SF 

H3S EVERY MAN 

HIS OWN 

FA R H I E H . 




Plain and practical directions in the choice, how- 
to buy and how to keep a horse, together 
with remedies for all diseases to which 
he is liable. 





PHILADELPHIA: 




W. A. LEARY, Jr., 


• No. > 


U South Delaware Avenue, below Market Street. 


- 


1867. 



• IPtrCATE 

tftllttiJ. 




Book • & Jf 



THE 



AMERICAN FARRIER 



AND 



HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 



BY S. R. HAYNES. 



PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY THE AUTHOR. 
V 1865. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 
S. K. HAYNES, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court in and for the 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

Qoop&r onion LibrarY 

Aug. 28 18S4 &■ 



PREFACE 



No animal is so useful as the horse, and yet there 
is none so liable to disease. To-day, he m y be 
apparently well ; to-rnorrow, he is stricken with vio- 
lent pain, which, if not speedily attended to, ends 
in death. 

But very few persons who own horses understand 
anything of their nature, or of the remedies neces- 
sary in case of sickness. The author, having had 
long and successful experience with horses, and 
having been urged by many friends to publish the 
recipes of the remedies by which he has performed 
some wonderful cures, has consented to offer the 
following as a complete "Horse Doctor" on the 
treatment of the "thousand and one ills which the 
horse is heir to, " and also the proper mode of 
treatment while sick. 

If the readers of the work are only as successful 
in following the instructions, as the author has been 
during his twenty years' practice, he feels that he 
offers sufficient apology for intruding upon the 
public notice. 

Philadelphia, January 20, 1865. 



THE 



AMERICAN FARRIER. 



THE PULSE. 

The most convenient place to feel the pulse is 
about four inches below where the throat latch is 
buckled, on the lower jaw. Some horsemen feel 
for it at the side, but although they can count it 
there, they cannot tell its quality ; beneath the jaw, 
it can be pressed against the jaw bone, and the 
quality as well as quantity can be easily ascertained. 

As the pulse is of great assistance to a physician, 
particularly in treating a child, who cannot describe 
its pains, so, to the veterinary surgeon, it is an 
invaluable assistant. 

The number of pulsations in any artery show 
the condition of the heart and of the rest of the 
body. In a healthy working horse, the pulse is 
about thirty- six to the minute ; but in a thorough 
bred, or smaller horse, it is forty or forty-two. This 
is the standard pulse. When the pulse is fifty or 
fifty -five, there is some fever, and he needs attention ; 
1* 



6 THE AMERICAN EARRIER 

at seventy or seventy-five, he is in a dangerous state, 
and a pulse of one hundred or more would wear him 
out in one or two days. 

But great care should be taken not to excite the 
horse, when about to feel the pulse. If you ap- 
proach, him hastily or speak roughly, it will affect 
him as it would a sick person. It will excite him, 
and his pulse will quicken ten beats per minute. 
Even when approaching him quietly, and speaking 
gently, the pulse will be somewhat disturbed ; and 
before leaving him, you should feel the pulse again, 
to note if there is any difference. 

Where a quick pulse indicates fever and irrita- 
tion, a slow pulse indicates diseases of an opposite 
character, where nervous energy is wanting. The 
hard pulse is a sure indicator of considerable fever, 
for the heart is excited to more violent as well as 
frequent action, it contracts more powerfully upon 
the blood, and drives it with greater force through 
the arteries, and the vessels are thus expanded 
violently and suddenly. 

In the first stages of this, bleed in the neck vein, 
get as large a stream as you can, and keep the 
finger on the pulse ; let it flow until the pulse is 
slower and more regular. 

The hard, jerking, yet small pulse, denotes a vefy 
dangerous state of disease, and almost always 
accompanies inflammation of the bowels. The heart 
is so irritated, that it contracts before the ventricle 
is filled, so the stream is not great, though forcible. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. f 

In sudden cases of inflammation of the lungs, their 
minute vessels are obstructed by such an overflow 
or pressure of blood, that the action of the heart 
can hardly move the stream along, and then you 
find the oppressed pulse. 

In bleeding, the finger should be held upon the 
pulse, and the quantity of blood taken be regulated 
by it. 



CRIBBING. 



This is a disease which has baffled nearly all who 
have attempted to explain it, even where they were 
skilled in most ailments of the horse. Some 
say it is caused by the teeth growing too close, and 
pressing so hard against each other as to cause pain, 
and the horse bites or cribs, to relieve the teeth ; but 
I ask you who use this argument, will it crib if 
you buckle a strap around the neck ? No ! Well, 
does this strap loosen the teeth, or ease them in any 
way ? Of course not : but still some say they have 
cured it by filing between the teeth. Yes ! but for 
how long ? they don't know ; they sell him while the 
teeth are yet sore, and it hurts him to touch any- 
thing with them. As soon as he is well he will crib 
again. 

Some are called wind suckers, who do not bite 
the crib, but are said to suck the wind. Now, this 
is not so ; they are doing what the horse does when 
he is cribbing, simply belching — that is, in the first 



8 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

stages of it. Instead of swallowing wind, (which, 
he could not do, as wind drawn in goes to the lungs 
through the wind-pipe only,) he is belching up gas 
which has generated in the stomach. By putting 
the strap around the neck taut, he cannot use the 
muscles which he needs to gulph up the gas. 

This explanation will bear any test that may be 
applied to it, and prove conclusively to all that my 
theory is correct. 

One of the surest causes of cribbing is feeding 
with cut or chopped feed. It is usually fed too wet, 
which makes it foment, and generate gas. This dis- 
tends the stomach, and causes pain or uneasiness ; 
and to ease himself he learns to catch at the crib, 
holding upon that to belch forth the gas. Watch him, 
and you will see the same action as you will see in 
a man belching wind, as they say, or gas. 

Some horses are almost filled with gas, bloated 
as if with colic ; then it is dyspepsia. 

To cure cribbing, you must stop the generation 
of this gas in the stomach. One way is to feed 
your meal dry ; it is not as liable to hurt him in this 
way as when fed as in slops. You can just dampen 
the hay or straw, and the meal will adhere to it. 

Take one pound of pulverized charcoal to one 
pound of soda ; mix well together, and give one 
table-spoonful once a day, for a week, or until he is 
cured. He should be hitched so that he cannot bite 
anything for a few days, and be fed from the floor ; 
then as the medicine and feed remove the cause of 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 9 

the disease, a few days absence from anything he can 
bite, will remove the habit. 



NICKING. 



There are two different modes of nicking ; I will 
give the best and easiest. To make a horse carry 
an elegant tail is attended with some uncertainty. 
It much depends upon the spirit, disposition, form 
and vigor of the bone of the tail, &c, &c. A horse 
of good spirits, tolerable shape, and a small bone in 
the tail, can be made to carry an elegant tail with 
the greatest ease, particularly if he carries a tolera- 
bly natural tail ; but a dull, leather-headed, flop- 
eared horse, with a remarkably large bone in his 
tail, will set you a task, although you may break 
the bone in two or three different places. Indeed, 
there is so much difference in horses, that some 
judgment must be exercised about the mode best to 
be adopted for the accomplishment of the object in 
view. 

Nothing can more disfigure the appearance of a 
horse than to be half nicked. The form of the tail, 
when this unfortunately happens, departs from the 
simplicity of nature, and never attains the elegance 
of art. 

I shall now proceed to the best method of nick- 
ing every description of horse, and which, if well 
attended to, will seldom or never fail to succeed. 



10 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

The horse should be confined in stocks fitted for 
that purpose. The tail then should be plaited up 
and clubbed at the end, turned over a small stick, 
and securely tied with a string. Being provided 
with a knife made for that purpose, turn the tail up 
in a direct line with the back ; commence the 
operation by making an incision about one inch from 
the rump, close to the hair ; cut the cords in one 
place on each side, leaving an incision only the 
size of the knife-blade; be very careful not to touch 
the bone with the knife, for if so, it would create 
inflammation, and the hair would come out. Great 
pains should be taken to have the weights equal, in 
order to keep the tail in a perpendicular direction, 
and prevent it from turning to either side during 
the time of healing, as a horse that carries his tail 
to one side, instead of being elegantly nicked, is 
ruined. 

The horse many times carries a crooked tail 
before he has been nicked. To straighten the tail, 
cut the top cord — the under cord depresses the tail 
and the top one raises it. When standing, the tail is 
straight ; you will see at once that it is the top cord. 
In cutting the cord to straighten, cut the long cord, 
and the short cord will push the tail straight, and 
the long cord will pass by on a lap, and grow 
together, leaving the tail as strong as ever. Pulling 
is not required in straightening the tail. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 11 

STRENGTH OF FOOD USED FOR HORSES. 

It will, perhaps, be interesting to the horseman 
and farrier to know how much nutritive matter is 
contained in the different kinds of food given the 
horse. The quantity cannot be considered as ex- 
pressing the actual value of each, because other 
circumstances beside the simple quantity of nutri- 
ment seem to influence their effect in supporting the 
strength and condition of the horse. Yet many a 
useful hint may be learned when the farmer looks 
over the produce of his soil. The list is taken from 
Sir Humphrey Davy's Agricultural Chemistry: 

1CO0 parts of wheat contain 955 parts of nutritive matter. 



" " barley 


" 92) 


" " oats 


" 743 


" " peas 


" 574 


" " beans 


" 570 


" " potatoes 


" 230 


" " red beets 


" 148 


" " parsnips 


" 99 


" " carrots 


" 9S 



Of the grasses, 1000 parts of the meadow catstail 
contains at the time of seeding, 98 parts of nutri- 
tive matter ; narrow-leaved meadow grass in seed, 
and sweet-scented soft grass in flower, 95 ; narrow- 
leaved and flat-stalked meadow grass in flower, 
fertile meadow grass in seed, and talefescue in 
flower, 93 ; creeping soft grass in flower, 78 ; com- 
mon turnips, 42 ; long-rooted clover, 39 ; white 
clover, 32 ; and lucerne, 23.. 



12 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

TO TELL A HOUSE'S AGE EY HIS TEETH. 

The only sure way of telling the age of a horse 
is by the teeth, and these only for a certain time ; 
after which there is nothing to be depended on, 
although you may guess very near, by the front 
teeth of his upper jaw> until he is about twelve or 
thirteen : this, with the face of the horse, and some 
other marks, enables one experienced in horses to 
guess pretty correctly. 

There are six teeth above, and six below in the 
fore part of the horse's mouth, from which we may 
judge of his age ; they are called gatherers. When 
a colt is foaled, he has no teeth in the front of his 
mouth. In a few days, two come in the upper jaw, 
and two below. Again, in a few days, four more 
appear ; but the corner teeth do not come for 
several months— three or four. These twelve teeth 
remain unchanged in the front of the colt's mouth, 
until he is two or two and a half years old, when he 
begins to change them for permanent ones ; although 
the manner in which he has been fed, regulates, in a 
measure, the time of change. 

Until he is in his eighth year, you can tell his age 
by the front teeth in the lower jaw,— T so we will only 
speak of these. At first he sheds the two middle 
teeth of the six. These are succeeded by two per- 
manent, or horse teeth, of a deeper color, and 
stronger — and grooved or fluted from top to bottom, 
with a black cavity in the centre. He is now about 
three. In the latter part of the fourth year, the 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 13 

teeth on each side of the tooth in the centre undergo 
the same process, and he becomes possessed of four 
horse teeth in the middle, with their natural black 
marks in the centre, and one colt's tooth, only, on 
each side. He next sheds his corner teeth. When 
he has their successors, his mouth is full. He has 
the black mark now in all the six teeth, and is five 
years old. 

After the horse is seventeen or eighteen, the 
grinders wear down, and the nippers prevent the 
grinders from coming together, so that he cannot 
masticate his food. By filing off the nippers, he 
will masticate his food as well as a six year old 
horse. 



TO FEED, WATER, AND DRIVE. 

Persons should be very careful not to feed and 
water heavy before driving. By filling the stomach 
with water and feed, the water destroys the juices 
of the stomach, and weakens digestion ; the grain 
becomes swollen, and generates a gas which fills the 
stomach with wind, and as soon as it is diseased, 
the bot will work his head into the coating of the 
stomach. It also fills the bowels with wind, and 
would naturally cause colic. So you see at once, 
by overloading the stomach with food and water, 
and driving fast, it will cause disease ; and many 
times, when the horse comes in, he is off his feed — 
will not eat. There is nothing to call for food ; he 
2 



'14 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

will drool at the mouth, and will not regain his 
appetite for twenty-four hours. All grain will digest 
best whilst the horse is standing still, and all feed 
that passes off without digestion, weakens the action 
of the stomach and bowels, and, in many cases, will 
scour the horse, and cause him to become weak. 
The less you feed before driving the better. Then, 
again, you should water very little on the road. 
Feed mostly at night ; the food will then all digest 
and make flesh and blood. I should advise not 
more than two quarts in the morning, and the same 
at noon. I do not feed in the morning, neither do 
I water. 

If I was going to make a long and fast drive, I 
should feed twelve quarts the night before; then 
my horse would be strong, and feel light and active, 
and do his work easy. By giving him little water, 
the horse will fully digest what he has eaten ; but if 
you weaken the juices, of course you weaken diges- 
tion, and a horse should only be fed what he can 
easily digest. I think by so doing you will save 
one-third of the grain formerly given. Most of the 
diseases are caused by too much water and food ; 
the water destroys the juices, and disables digestion. 
By feeding most of the grain whilst the horse is at 
rest, it will fully digest, leaving the horse strong, 
and able to do his work. 

By giving a great amount of water, it diseases the 
blood, and deadens the hair. The water must pass 
in some way ; it cannot all pass in the urine, and it 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 15 

passes off through the pores of the skin, causing the 
hair to become gummed, and makes the horse very 
hard to clean. So much water passing off through 
the pores of the flesh, destroys the roots of the hair, 
and causes it to look dull and faded. Then, again, 
you should be cautious not to drive your horse into 
cold water when warm, or throw water on him; by 
so doing, it chills the blood in the veins, separates 
the blood from the watery substances that the blood 
forms from, and causes disease, the skin becoming 
full of small tumors, and the hair will fall off. By 
thus diseasing the blood, he will be liable to many 
other diseases. By avoiding to give too much water 
on the road, and too much food before driving, and 
keeping the horse warm after driving, you avoid 
disease. 



INFLAMED EYES, OS HOOKS. 

In the first place, rowel below the eyes and in the 
jaws ; and if the eyes are much inflamed, bleed two 
gallons from the neck vein, and use the eye lotion 
as below, or any of the following recipes, every 
morning. Move the rowels every day, and let them 
remain in fifteen or eighteen days. If the eye 
should show a white speck in the centre, there is 
then no cure ; the nerve is affected. But as long 
as the water runs from the eye or the eyelids swell, 
there is some hope. Weak eyes are most liable to 
be found in young horses. Sometimes the eye be- 



16 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

comes weak from wolf-teeth. These should be 
knocked off; they will be found on the upper jaw. 

Eye Wash No. 1. 
Take one drachm of white vitrol ; one quart of 
soft water ; laudanum, one ounce ; two drachms of 
sugar of lead. Wash the eyes well every morning, 
after washing them well with cold water, and repeat 
it for three or four weeks ; and, if no better, bleed and 
give a mild physic. Keep the horse on low diet, 
and do not work too hard or over-heat. Oats and 
scalded bran are good. 

Eye Wash No 2. 
Take a half ounce of gum camphor ; two ounces 
of spirits of ether; and a good quality of linseed 
oil, one pint. Let them stand in some warm place 
until the oil cuts the gum, and it is then fit for 
using. Apply to the eyes every morning with a 
soft feather. This is better in winter than No. 1. 

Eye Wash No. 3. 
Take one tablespoonful of alcohol; one tea- 
spoonful extract of lead ; one-half pint of rain 
water. Wash the eyes freely two or three times a 
day. 



FISTULA, OR POLLEVIL, 
Is caused by a bruise or stroke, and produces fever 
in the muscles. Try and cure it before it breaks. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. It 

Run a rowel or seton from the lower part of the 
swelling to the top, through the centre of the 
enlargement; then make the annexed lotion. 

To cure it before breaking. 

Four ounces of spirits of tar, four ounces linseed 
oil, half a pint spirits of turpentine, two ounces of 
sal ammoniac ; mix them well, and then apply over 
the swelling every other day, and let the seton stay 
in until the swelling has entirely gone. Move it 
every day, and when all has disappeared, draw it 
out. Keep the part clean, and bleed when you first 
open. 

To cure after it breaks. 

If the pipes run down towards the surface, which 
you will discover by probing it, run a seton down 
through the bottom of the pipe, and anoint it with 
the following, until it runs a bloody matter : — Take 
one-half an ounce of cantharides, and four ounces 
of mercurial ointment. Then draw it out. If the 
pipes run down the centre of the shoulders, then run 
down a piece of nitrate of silver to the bottom. 
Keep the parts clean with soap and water, and use 
the following liquid every day, on the swelling. 

Liquid for Pollevil, or Fistula. 

Three ounces of arnica, or seneca oil, half ounce 
of origanum oil, half ounce of turpentine, six ounces 
of olive oil ; mix well and apply after the nitrate of 
2* 



18 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

silver has been used, every few days until the part 
affected heals up. 



STIFF SHOULDERS, OR SWEENY. 

This disease is on the side of the shoulder. The 
horse, while suffering, will be quite lame, and will 
stand with one foot before the other ; and if it is 
on both shoulders, he will change them from one to 
the other. Where the horse has not been lame long 
enough to know how to ease himself by standing, 
as described, you can easily tell what the trouble is 
by pressing with the finger upon the muscle, which 
may be shrunk but a little, as at times they are apt 
to shrink much ; yet when you press, he will shrink 
from the touch. I give below my remedy for this 
troublesome disease. 

Rowel from the top of the shoulder-blade down 
as far as there is no feeling ; cut through the skin 
first, and then two thin fibres or strifnngs. Use the 
blunt needle, move it backwards and forwards five 
or six inches, draw in a tape or seton, and the next 
morning wet it with the tincture of cantharides, or 
oil of turpentine, which must be done every day, 
and wash the part clean ; the tape to stay in until 
the matter changes to blood ; this is for both 
diseases. Let him run out if possible ; if for sweeny, 
you can work all the time. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 19 

TE2JDER FEET, OR HOOF-BOTJNB. 

This is caused by a fever in the feet, gravel or 
founder. The symptoms are hot feet, and a draw- 
ing in one inch from the top of the feet at the heels. 
Never rasp above the nail-holes, nor have the feet 
spread at the heels, for it will do the foot an injury. 
Use the following. Either the liquid or ointment 
may be used, and applied according to directions. 

For hoof-bound, or tender feet, apply it around 
the top of the hoof, and an inch lower every other 
day ; for split-hoof, it may be applied every day. 
Clean the cut or crack out well, and have a stiff 
shoe on the foot. 

Hoof Ointment. 
Take one pound of tallow, two ounces of verdi- 
gris, (powdered fine,) three ounces turpentine, six 
ounces beeswax, four ounces of rosin, and two 
pounds of lard ; melt together, pour it into a pot 
and stir until it gets cool. This is one of the best 
ointments ever used for corks or bruises of the feet. 

Hoof Liquid. 
This liquid is one of the best for tender feet, or 
hoof-bound, that can be used. Take six ounces of 
oil of tar, three ounces of origanum, four ounces 
turpentine, half a pint of either linseed oil or neats- 
foot oil ; shake up well and apply the same as the 
ointment. In cases where the horse has been lame 
long, it penetrates the hoof sooner than the oint- 



20 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

merit. Apply in the evening so that the horse can 
work next day. 



HOOFEVIL OR THETJSH.-GREASE HEELS. 

This is caused by over feeding, and the want of 
exercise, or standing in a filthy stable. The symp- 
toms are well known by a discharge of offensive 
matter from the frog of the foot, and around the 
top of the foot. If the frog should come out, you 
must put a stiff shoe on the foot to keep it from 
contracting. 

First bleed and physic, and then poultice the foot 
with boiled turnips and some charcoal, (ground fine.) 
This must be followed up for two or three nights ; 
then wash with Castile soap and soft water, and apply 
the blue ointment every day, as directed below. 
The horse must be kept on a clean floor. 

Blue Ointment, No. 1. 

Third of an ounce of iodine, half an ounce of 
origanum, two pounds of mutton-tallow, two ounces 
of turpentine, quarter of an ouuce of verdigris 
(ground fine), and four ounces of rosin; mix it well 
together. This is one of the best ointments made 
for scratches, hoofevil, or cuts ; also good to apply 
on fistula, after taking out the rowels. 

There is also another remedy which may be used, 
and will have very good effect. When the inflam- 
mation has been poulticed with carrots boiled soft 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 21 

and mashed fine — or linseed meal may be used — 
there will be a healthy discharge of matter ; and it 
may be dressed with the following 

Ointment for Grease Heels, No. 2. 
One ounce of rosin, two ounces of honey in the 
comb, two ounces of lard, and one ounce of calamus 
powder. This is cooling, and heals very fast. If 
the fungus is not entirely gone? wash with two 
drachms of blue vitriol and a pint of water. 

Ointment No. 3. 
Fop common scratches, this is known to be good. 
After washing with dish-water, and drying, apply 
as in the last, with copperas and chamber-lye. 



LTJNG FEVER. 

This is often caused by removing from warm to 
cold stables, and too much water when warm. The 
horse is taken with a chill, and then breaks out in a 
cold, clammy sweat. He groans when he moves, and 
hangs down his head. He never offers to lie down ; 
his ears and legs are cold. 

Bleed from the neck-vein about three gallons. 
Take one ounce of aconite to half a gallon of cold 
water; drench with one gill every three hours. 
Blister over the lungs ; then give water that hay has 
been boiled in. Add to each gallon one ounce of 
gum arabic, and half an ounce of spirits of nitre ; 



22 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

give every four hours. Rub the legs well with 
alcohol and camphor until they are warm, but do 
not let him be moved. If hot weather, keep him in 
an open stall. 

Inhaling is often practiced, and is very essential 
to be done. Take one ounce of digitalis, one ounce 
of nitre, two ounces of balsam fir, and two ounces 
ofcopaiva; mix it well together with one pint of 
95° spirits and one pint of hot rain water. Cover 
him over with blankets, so as not to let any air get 
to the horse. Then hold the mixture to his nose; 
at the same time put a hot iron into the compound, 
and let him inhale the fumes. 



YELLOW WATER, OR DISEASES OF THE LIVER. 

The eyes turn yellow and run; the bars of the 
mouth do the same ; the mane and hair get loose, 
and the horse often gets lame in the right shoulder, 
and becomes very costive. In this case, it is neces- 
sary to give the following ball every morning, until 
it takes effect upon the bowels : — Take four drachms 
of ginger, one drachm of calomel, seven drachms of 
aloes, and molasses enough to make it into a ball ; 
wrap it in a paper, and give it. Give scalded oats ; 
or bran-grass is good, if it can be procured. When 
the bowels have been moved, then stop the physic, 
and give, in the morning, for ten days, in a pint of 
water, one ounce of spirits of camphor. Rowel in 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 23 

the breast, and give a dose of cleansing powder for 
two or three days, composed as follows : — 

Cleansing Powder. 

This may be found good for coughs. It is used 
when the blood is out of order, and restores a lost 
appetite. It is also good for yellow water; and 
where it has been used, it is highly recommended. 
Take one pound of good ginger, half an ounce of 
crude antimony, four ounces of powdered gentian, 
and one ounce of nitre ; mix it well together, and 
give a large spoonful every day, in wet food, which 
will be found perfectly safe. 

There might be a great many words said, and 
many recipes given for the diseases of the liver; 
but I have found the above as good as any, if not 
better ; and it is not worth the room to give them, 
as it will leave space for something more valuable. 



DISCHARGES FROM THE NOSE.— NASAL, OR GLEET. 

This is caused by neglect in distemper, or over-* 
heat, or cold. This is a white discharge from the 
nose. It is not contagious, and can be cured, if 
you use the following directions : — Stop working ; 
take half a pound of blue vitrol, half a pound of 
rosin, half a pound of alum, and half a pound of 
ginger, which must be ground, and mixed well 
together. Give a large tablespoonful every morn- 



24 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

ing and night ; bleed one gallon, and keep him out 
of the wet. It is best to keep away from other 
horses. 



DISEASED KIDNEYS 

Is often caused by feeding dirty or musty grains, 
hard work, and over-loading; and very often by 
giving too much turpentine, besides various other 
causes, which are 'not worth mentioning. I have 
found this to be the only thing that would give 
relief, generally in two or three days. Blister over 
the kidneys, and give the following : — Two ounces of 
flour, one ounce of jnniper berries ground fine, and 
one ounce of rosin ; make all into a stiff paste, then 
make it into seven pills, and give one every night, 
and use the cleansing powders every day. If the 
horse has difficulty in rising, when he lies down, 
swing him up for two weeks ; and be sure and give 
clean food, as it is half the cure. You must be 
careful not to keep him too warm ; for if he sweats, 
the medicine, instead of stimulating the kidneys, 
passes off in perspiration. Do not work or ride 
him. 



WHITE OINTMENT. 

For rheumatism, sprains, burns, bruises, &c, or 
any inflammation on man or beast, chapped hands 
or lips, black eyes, or any kind of bruises which are 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION, 25 

so common to both man and horse, the following is 
as valuable a remedy as can be used for these very- 
troublesome complaints : — Take two pounds of 
fresh butter, half an ounce of tincture of iodine, 
two ounces of oil of origanum ; mix it well for 
fifteen or twenty minutes, and it is ready for use. 
Apply every night, rubbed in well with your hand. 
If for human flesh, warm flannel is more suitable, 
laid on the part affected. 



BLACK LINIMENT. 

This is good to apply on pollevil or fistula. In 
fact, it is good for any swelling : — Take half a pint 
of linseed oil, three ounces of tincture or" iodine, 
four ounces of turpentine, one ounce of oil of origa- 
num ; shake it well together, and apply every day. 
Rub it in well with your hand, and do not fail to 
wash the part clean with soap and water. 



A SALVE FOR MAN AND HORSE. 
This may be used for all kinds of sores of long 
standing, as it has been found an excellent remedy. 
Take two ounces of honey and half an ounce of 
rosin, and melt them together; then add lard 
enough to make a paste. When cool, it is then fit 
for use. 



26 THE AMERICAN FARRl'ER 

CANKER OR THRUSH, OR SORE MOUTH AND TONGUE. 

This is caused by frosty bits being put into the 
mouth, or by eating poisonous weeds. The follow- 
ing mixture will cure the disease : — Take one pint 
of vinegar, one pint of sage tea, half an ounce of 
alum, two drachms of sugar of lead, and three 
drachms of borax ; shake it well together, and wash 
out the mouth every morning. No hay should be 
given for twelve days. 



GROGGY KNEES 
Is caused by over-driving or sprains, or by having 
corks and no toes on the shoes. If it is taken in 
its first stages, it is curable; but if of long standing, 
there is no cure for it. Have the shoes made thin 
at the toe, and thick at the heel. Take two ounces 
of laudanum, one ounce of spirits of camphor, four 
ounces of alcohol, and half a pint of linseed oil. 
Shake it well, and apply at the back part of the 
legs, and rub them well every three or four days ; 
also increase the thickness of the shoes at the toes. 



WARTS. 

The sure way to remove warts is to cut around 
them ; then take the tenaculum or hook, run it 
through the warts, and draw them out by the roots. 
If it should bleed too much, mix one ounce of water 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 21 

with five grains of nitrate of silver ; wet a sponge, 
and merely touch the parts with the wash, and it 
will stop the bleeding. Treat it the same as you 
would any other fresh wound. Scratch off the scab 
every time you wash it, so that the scar will be 
small. There may be other ways, but I would not 
recommend any other. 



BOTS IN HORSES. 

When a horse is attacked with bots, it is very 
much like the colic. The ears and legs are hot, and 
sometimes the sweat will start on the flank and 
breast. It is known by the occasional nipping at 
their own sides ; also by red pimples or projections 
on the inner surface of the upper lip, which may be 
seen by turning up the -lips. The following is a 
good and safe remedy : — 

Take half a gallon sage tea, add to it one ounce 
of alum. Drench well with one-half of it ; and if he 
is not better in thirty or fifty minutes, give the 
balance. Bleed one gallon, and give a mild physic 
in six hours. This must be given in time. Tur- 
pentine is not good, as it will affect the kidneys. 



RHEUMATISM. 

Caused often by cooling off too soon, after a hard 
drive, and standing in damp stables. Change of 
food will often cause it. 



28 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

Liniment. 
To a half pint of alcohol take a half ounce of 
origanum, also a half ounce of cayenne pepper, a 
half ounce of gum myrrh, a tea-spoonful of lobelia, 
and let it stand twelve hours ; and bathe freely the 
affected part every morning and evening until there 
is a change. 



Rheumatic Ointment. 
This may also be used for different sores, sprains, 
bruises, &c: — Take one ounce of tincture of iodine, 
four ounces of aqua ammonia, half a pint of linseed 
oil, and half a pint of turpentine; shake it well, 
and apply as above. 



COLIC. 

The horse often lies down, gets up suddenly, and 
looks at his flanks, strikes his belly with his hind 
feet, stamps with his fore feet ; his ears and legs 
are cold, and he refuses all kind of food. 

Mixture No. 1. 

Take a half ounce of laudanum, one ounce of 
sulphuric ether, a half pint of water, milk-warm ; 
drench, and if not better in half an hour, bleed, 
and repeat the drench. The horse should not be 
moved while sick, as is often done, and causes 
sudden 4eath. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 29 

Mixture No. 2. 

This is another good remedy which I would 
recommend if the No. 1. is not easily obtained. 

Take three ounces of spirits of turpentine, one 
ounce of laudanum ; mix well, and give all for a 
dose ; put in a bottle with a half pint of warm 
water, which will prevent the throat being injured. 
If relief is not obtained in an hour, repeat the dose, 
with a half ounce of powdered aloes, dissolved 
together, and the result will be perceived very soon. 
For an injection, if the above does act very soon, 
and the horse should bloat or swell, take two quarts 
of hot water, half a pound of hog's lard, and four 
ounces of castile soap. 

Mixture No. 3„ 
Take one ounce of laudanum, two ounces sweet 
spirits nitre, one and a half ounces aloes, half an 
ounce of alcohol, and four ounces of water. Mix 
for a draught. 

Mixture No. 4. 
Take of opium and camphor each two ounces^ 
spirits of hartshorne, one ounce, oil of turpentine, 
two ounces, strong ale, one pint. Mix for a draught. 

Mixture No. 5. 
Take of pepper half an ounce, oil of turpentine, 
three ounces, laudanum, one ounce, strong ale, ten 
ounces. Mix for a draught, 
3* 



30 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

Mixture No. 6. 
Take of laudanum two ounces, ether, one ounce, 
oil of peppermint, one drachm, strong ale, five 
ounces, gin five ounces. Mix for a draught. 

Mixture No. T. 
Take oil of turpentine, two ounces, oil of pepper- 
mint, one drachm, castor oil six ounces, tincture 
of aloes, three ounces. Mix for a draught. 

Mixture No. 8. 
Take of pepper half an ounce, gin, five ounces, 
strong ale, five ounces, and juice of two or three large 
onions. Mix for a draught. 

Mixture No. 9. 
Take of asafoetida half an ounce, squills one 
drachm, soap, two drachms, oil of turpentine, two 
drachms, balsam Peru, half a drachm, water four 
ounces. Mix for a draught. 

Mixture No. 10. 
Take of digitalis, half a drachm, extract of hem- 
lock, two drachms, water, half a pint. Mix for a 
draught. 

Anti- Spasmodic Injection. 
Take of decoction of poppies, one gallon, spirits 
of camphor, one ounce. Mix well. 

Anti- Spasmodic Drench. 
Take of laudanum quarter of an ounce, ether, one 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 31 

drachm, beer, four ounces, brandy, four ounces, oil 
peppermint, one drachm. To be given at one dose. 



SPSAINS OF THE STIFLE. 

The horse holds up his foot, moans when he is 
moved, and swells in the stifle. This is called 
stifling. There is no such thing as this joint get- 
ting out of place. Bleed two gallons ; foment the 
stifle with hot water. Rub it dry, and then bathe 
it well with the general liniment. Morning and 
night give him a mash, and never allow the stifle- 
shoe or cord on the foot or leg. 



HEAVES. 

Reasons why it is not in the Lungs. — First. 
If the disease was in the lungs, it would create in- 
flammation, and have the same effect as inflamma- 
tion of the lungs by cold. The horse would be 
weak and drooping, without appetite, and really 
could not be driven two miles as any person would 
naturally drive a horse. I3ut a heavy horse can be 
driven from eight to twelve miles within the hour. 
This is positive proof that it is not in the lungs.. 

Second. — Take a heavy horse and turn him out 
to pasture forty-eight hours, and he will breathe 
clear and easy, showing no signs of heaves. The 
grass has not reached his lungs, still it has stopped 
the hard breathing; but if you will give the horse 



32 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

cold water to drink, he will cough. Has the water 
touched the lungs ? No ; but it has touched the 
disease. This is another reason why it is not in 
the lungs. 

I will tell you where the disease is, and what it 
is caused by. First — A dainty horse is not liable 
to heaves, but a hearty eater is liable to this dis- 
ease — not from the amount of food that he eats, 
but from the hoggish way of eating. There are 
two pipes leading to the stomach and lungs ; where 
they meet there is a throttle-valve. A horse, on 
eating coarse food, scratches his throttle; then, by 
a hard drive, and warming the horse, he takes cold 
in this wound, and it becomes a running sore or 
canker. By turning the horse to grass, the juice 
cleanses and washes the wound; the grass, being 
cool, takes the inflammation from the disease ; the 
swelling is gone, and the horse breathes freely and 
easily as ever. This is positive proof that it is 
not in the lungs. Then, by feeding with coarse and 
dry hay, it irritates and creates inflammation, and 
causes the horse to breathe hard again. 

Cure No. 1. 
Take balsam of fir and balsam of copaiva, 
equal parts ; add enough calcined magnesia to make 
into balls. Give a middle-sized ball night and 
morning, for ten days, or two weeks — a ball about 
the size of a yolk of an egg. This is a sure cure. 
I never made a failure in anv case. You should be 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 33 

careful about feeding for two weeks after giving the 
medicine. Cut feed and wet the hay. A little 
brown sugar in his food for a few days would be 
good. 

Cure No. 2. 

Take calcined magnesia, balsam of fir, and balsam 
copaiva, of each one ounce ; spirits of turpentine 
two ounces ; and put them all into one pint of best 
cider vinegar, and give for a dose a table-spoonful 
in his feed once a day for a week ; then every other 
day for two or three months. 

Cure No. 3. 

Take lobelia, wild turnip, elecampane, and skunk 
cabbage, equal parts of each. Make into balls of 
common size, and give one for a dose ; or make a 
tincture, by putting four ounces of the mixture into 
two quarts of spirits ; and after a week put two 
table spoonfuls into the feed, once a day for a 
month or two. 

Cure No. 4. 
Take oyster shells, one peck ; bum into lime and 
pulverise; mix a single-handful of it with half a 
gill of alcohol, then mix it with the oats each morn- 
ing until all given. Feed no oats at night. 

Cure No. 5. 

Commence with a piece of pork, say a cubic inch, 
chopped very five, and mixed with the wetted grain 



34 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

or cut feed, twice a day for two or three days. Then 
from day to day increase the quantity and cut less 
fine, until there is given with each feed such a slice 
as usually by a farmer's wife is cut for frying — nearly 
as large as your hand, cut into fifteen or twenty 
pieces. 



DUMBNESS IN HORSES, OR MAGRINS. 

This is often noticeable by the horse being dull in 
driving, with an inclination to bear hard on one rein 
and leave the road ; also sleepy while standing ; 
loses all feeling, pays no attention to the whip, and 
in some instances the horse is taken with a jerking 
up of the head, and will run back and fall down, lie 
for a few minutes, get up and go on. This is often 
called fits, but it is the same disease. The cure for 
it is doubtful ; but this treatment will have the 
effect if taken in time : 

Bleed and physic, give regular exercise ; keep in 
cool stable ; do not give him strong feed, fodder or 
blades ; half an ounce of tincture of asafcetida every 
day for one week, and then tie the gum upon the 
bits and wear it on them all the time. The stable 
should be well ventilated and clean ; apply lime 
every ten clays. Diseases are often caused from the 
-nmionia arising from filthy stables, which in mauy 
cases effects the eyes. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 35 

BLIND STAGGERS. 

This disease is brought on by giving too much 
feed and water when driving. The grain becomes 
swollen, and the stomach distended by undigested 
food ; by this means the circulation of the blood is 
stopped, and flows to the head and makes the horse 
crazy and blind. 

Cure No. 1. 

Bleed one gallon from neck vein, split the skin of 

the forehead, and fill with salt and black pepper ; 

get sasafras roots and boil to a tea. Give one 

». gallon twice a day. Feed light with bran mash ; 

do not use hearty food for two weeks. 

Cure No. 2. 

First, physic with one ounce of aloes dissolved in 
warm water, and give as a drench ; in one hour, 
give half an ounce more of aloes, and continue this 
until it operates. As soon as the first is given, 
blister the head with a strong fly blister ; apply this 
over the brain, from below the ear, nearly down to 
the eye ; then bathe the legs with as hot water as 
you can use, and bandage them with flannel ; keep 
them as warm as possible. Then give one drachm 
of digitalis, one and a half of emetic tartar, and 
three drachms of nitre. If it is to be repeated, use 
half of the above amount in three hours. Then if 
he has any disposition to eat, give bran mash, with 
one table-spoonful of pulverized resin ; use this for 



36 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

a week as he recovers, and feed and work lightiy 
until he regains his strength. If he is bound up, it 
may be necessary to use injections, which are always 
beneficial. 



SCOURS AND PIN-WORMS. 

This disease is somewhat similar to the cholera 
in man ; but very easy to manage. In warm climates 
it is dangerous, and nearly all horses that take it 
die in three or four days. 

Cure No. 1. 
Take red or white oak bark, boil to a strong tea ; 
add two table spoonfuls cream of tartar, to one 
quart of this decoction ; give as a drench ; then 
use the bark tea as an injection. Keep this up 
until the purging ceases ; then give wheat bran 
mash scalded, twice a day ; hay or grain is not good, 
as it will cause a relapse. If he has a good appetite 
you must be very careful for a few days, and com- 
mence feeding very light. 

Cure No. 2. 
Take one to one and a half ounces of tormentil 
roots, powdered, and stir it in a pint of milk, or it 
may be steeped in one pint and a half of milk, and 
given from three to five times a day. This was 
never known to fail, if given in time. When it 
becomes certain that the horse is troubled with pin- 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 37 

worms, by the passings from the bowels, it is best 
to administer the cure No. 1, as it is generally 
believed that they are the cause of the scours, and 
this remedy carries off the worms. . 



SPAVIN AND RINGBONE. 

The first-named disease comes at the lower part 
of the gambrel joint. It is caused by a strain or 
bruise ; either will cause it. This opens the pores, 
and causes the substance to concentrate at one place, 
forming a gristly or bony substance, and causes the 
joints to become stiff and sore. The horse some- 
times becomes lame before enlargement is perceiva- 
ble. In some cases, it will continue to grow for two 
years ; it will then become a hard bone. The en- 
largement at this stage cannot be removed ; you 
may kill the disease, and stop the lameness. The 
great object with this disease is to stop the leakage. 
There has nothing been used as an astringent, 
when, by removing the lump without the astringent, 
it leaves the parts loose and open ; but if used, it 
closes and stops the pores. Then, by letting the 
horse stand until it heals, it becomes firm. 

Cure No. 1. 
Cantharides, four ounces ; origanum, two ounces; 
sulphate of zinc, one ounce ; Venice turpentine, 
three ounces ; murat, tinct. iron, two ounces ; verdi- 
gris, three ounces ; oil vitrol, two ounces ; fresh 
4 



38 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

lard, one pound. Shave the hair from the part 
diseased, and rub the parts with the medicine. You 
must use your own judgment in using this medicine ; 
that is, in the length of time necessary to remove 
the callus. It must be used every other day ; this 
will dissolve the ossified substance and ooze it out. 
When you see the lump is diminished enough, then 
use the same astringent as I have directed in the 
other cure, that is, white oak bark and alum ; a 
quarter pound to half a gallon of bark juice, boiled 
down to a strong decoction. Use twice a day, 
morning and evening. 

Cure No. 2. 
Egyptiacum and wine vinegar, of each two 
ounces ; water of pure ammonia, spirits of turpen- 
tine and oil of origanum, of each one ounce ; eu- 
phorbium and cantharides, of each one-half ounce ; 
glass made fine and sifted, one drachm ; then put 
them in a bottle, and when used, let them be well 
shaken. 

This is to be rubbed upon the bone enlargement 
with the hand or spatula, for half an hour each 
morning, for six or seven mornings in succession. 
Let the horse be so tied that he cannot get his 
mouth to the place for three or four hours, otherwise 
he will blister his mouth and blemish the part. Then 
let him run until the scab comes off of itself without 
scraping so as to injure the roots of the hair. Then 
repeat as before, and follow up for three or four 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 39 

times blistering, and all bone enlargements will be 
re-absorbed, if not of more than one or two years' 
standing. 

It is also good for callous sinews, and strains of 
long standing, spavins, big-head, &c.; but if there 
are ringbones or spavins of so long standing that 
this does not cause their cure, you will proceed as 
follows : 

Add to the above compound, corrosive sublimate 
in powder half an ounce, oil of vitrol, half an ounce, 
and common salt half an ounce ; when it is again 
ready to use, always shaking well as you use either 
preparation. 

Cure No. 3. 

Take of cantharides, two ounces; mercurial 
ointment, four ounces; corrosive sublimate, three 
drachms ; turpentine, three ounces ; tincture iodine, 
two ounces ; gum euphorbium, half an ounce ; mix 
well with two pounds of lard ; color it, if you like. 
Follow the directions here given. If for ringbone or 
bone-spavin, cut off the hair from the part affected, 
and merely grease the lump with the ointment. Rub 
it in well with the naked hand. In two days grease 
the part with lard, and in four days wash it off with 
soap and water, and apply the ointment again. So 
repeat it every four days. If for wind-galls, or bog- 
spavin, or curb, apply the ointment every six days. 
For splints, the same. 



40 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

BROKEN KNEES. 
This is caused by falling on the knees. Cleanse 
the parts of all gravel and dirt; then wash them. 
Take two gills of alcohol, and half an ounce of 
arnica. Tie the knees up in coarse muslin ; and if 
they should swell in twenty-four hours, bleed him. 
The bowels should be kept open with mashes ; then 
apply the blue ointment as found in the recipe for 
Grease Heels, or the iodine ointment, every other 
day. 

Iodine Ointment. 

Get one ounce of iodine, and one pint of alcohol. 
Let this stand in the sun for two or three days ; 
this is the tincture of iodine. Take half a pound 
of lard to two ounces of tincture, and mix it well, 
and you have a good ointment for any swelling. 



MANGE AND SURFEIT. 

This is caused by the horse running out in wet 
weather, poor cleaning, and often by over-driving. 
The horse rubs and itches all over, and breaks out 
in scabs. 

Ointment. 

Take half a pound of sulphur, two pounds of lard, 
and mix them well. Rub well the parts affected 
every two or three days, and let him stand in the 
sun until it dries in. Give him a dose of cleansing 

>wder, (see page 23.) 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 41 

FRESH WOUNDS. 

First stop the blood by tying the arteries, or by 
applying this wash: — Take four grains of nitrate of 
silver, and one ounce of soft water; pour it on the 
wound, and draw the edges together by stitches 
one inch apart. Wash it clean; and if swelling 
should take place within twenty-four hours, bleed 
him, and apply the blue ointment (page 20), />r any 
of the liniments spoken of. The bowels must be 
kept open. 

The green ointment may also be used for galls, 
scratches, cuts, or fresh wounds ; and it is a good 
stable ointment. 

Green Ointment. 

Put into a ten-gallon kettle two gallons of water; 
add six pounds of lard, cut jimpson weed, and fill 
them in. Cook them slow for six hours, and let all 
the water boil out. Put it into a jar, and add to 
each pound of ointment one ounce of turpentine. 



BUTTON FARCY. 

This is a disease of the absorbents in the skin. 
The small arteries are employed in building up and 
nourishing the different parts of the body; and 
another set of vessels are busied in taking up and 
carrying away that which is useless. There is no 
pert of the body on which thousands of these little 
tubes are not open. Those of the skin are not only 
4* 



42 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

employed in removing useless material, but in taking 
up various substances and fluids which may be in 
contact with the skin. The vessels which are thus 
occupied collect together and form large bunches, 
and run in company with the veins ; and from this, 
farcy was once supposed to be a disease of the veins, 
as the tumors which mark it accompany the course 
of the veins. 

The poison which they take up produces inflam- 
mation in them, which gradually causes the absorb- 
ents to swell. 

These minute vessels contain valves, which per- 
mit the fluid to pass only one way; it cannot turn 
back. Thus the inflammation, causing the valves 
to swell, retards their usual play, and hinders the 
natural flow of the fluid, whose poison, thus stopped, 
inflames the valves more, and causes the tumors of 
the button farcy. They will generally be found on 
the inside of the legs, along the course of the veins. 
Sometimes the horse will lose his appetite for seve- 
ral days before the legs swell, or the farcy buds 
appear; and then, again, he will not droop for 
several days after they show themselves. But from 
the first his hair will look dull and rough, and he 
will lose flesh. These farcy buds are larger than 
those caused by surfeit. 

Farcy is a most perplexing disease. Sometimes 
one of the hind legs will swell in one night, so that 
he is quite lame ; then it may suddenly remove to 
the other leg. It should be bathed, as soon as 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 43 

possible, in water as hot as he can bear, and then 
wrapped in blankets, to keep the heat in as long 
possible. This will open the pores, and stop the 
swelling. 

In other cases, the head will swell first, and dis- 
charge at the nose, and the heels will crack. 

When the buds have broken open, or feel as 
though there was matter in them, take an iron, at a 
dull red heat, and touch them all. In a day or two 
the scab will come off. If they look pale, they 
should be washed with a lotion composed of one 
drachm of corrosive sublimate dissolved in one 
ounce of rectified spirits. All of these buds should 
be opened as soon as you ascertain < that there is 
matter in them ; then wash with the above lotion. 
You may use aloes for a physic in this disease, and 
give sassafras tea for a drink, made from the roots 
or bark of the roots. After the purge is stopped, 
use two drachms of gentian and one of ginger, 
morning and night, until the ulcers disappear. 
During this treatment, the horse should be kept in 
a dry place, and clothed. Bathe the legs every 
night in hot water, into which put a shovel of hot 
wood-ashes, making a weak lye. When he regains 
his appetite, be very careful in feeding. Give him 
mashes at least twice a day, until he gets his 
strength ; then give green food, if possible. 

In very severe cases of farcy, internal medicines 
will be necessary. Use of corrosive sublimate ten 
grains, increased to a scruple, with the two drachms 



44 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

of gentian, and one of ginger ; repeat morning and 
night, until the ulcers disappear. 



FOUNDER. 

This is caused by contraction of the muscle. 
The horse is stiff, has hot feet, trembles, and is very 
thirsty. After heating, and allowing him to drink 
too much, and stand in the cool air, the muscles 
become contracted. 

The coffin muscle is most injured which lies with- 
in the circle of the hoof. The horse cannot be 
cured in a short time ; but if proper remedies be 
applied, the horse can be cured within a week. . 

Cure No. 1. 

Take one and a half or two gallons of blood from 
the neck vein ; then give, as a physic, six drachms 
of Barbadoes aloes, dissolved or in balls. Cover the 
horse over; then commence bathing with as hot 
water as you can use. Keep this up for an hour, 
at least. Then stretch an old pantaloon leg over 
each of his fore legs, bind it around the hoof, and 
fill in with hot boiled oats ; give, as a drink, sassa- 
fras tea, made from the root; and give bran mashes, 
with a table-spoonful of pulverized resin. He 
should have a mash once a day for three or four 
days. This will cure him. 

But incase of founders of long standing, or even 
if the hoof has shrunk to the contraction of the mus- 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 45 

cle, it will be necessary to treat it somewhat differ- 
ently. The bleeding should be omitted, the legs 
bathed twice a day, and the feet should be poulticed 
with flaxseed meal three times a week ; the hoof 
should stand in clay mortar three times a week, at 
night, or in day-time, if he is not at work. If he 
could run out to a marshy pasture, it would not be 
necessary to poultice. But he must have something 
to act on the blood. Take of digitalis four drachms, 
emetic tartar four drachms, nitre six drachms ; 
divide this into two doses, and give one in three 
days. Between the days that this is given, give 
bran mashes mixed with sassafras tea. This physic 
may be given once in every three weeks, with the 
feet always to be kept moist. It will take three 
months to effect a cure. When of long standing, 
the muscles of the shoulder sometimes contract, as 
in sweeny. In this case a seton, of from nine to 
fifteen inches, may be used, according to the con- 
traction. 

Cure No. 2. 
Bleed from the neck vein three or four gallons, 
or until he falls ; then give the following : One half 
ounce of aloes, four drachms gamboge, one half 
ounce oil of sassafras ; make this into a pill, give 
it, and give him all the sassafras tea he will drink ; 
turn up his feet, and fill them full of boiling hot 
lard ; bathe his legs in hot water, and rub them 
well. This will never fail to cure in forty-eight 
hours. 



46 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

QUINSY. 

The symptoms of this disease are something like 
inflammation of the lungs — difficulty of breathing, 
eyes inflamed, nostrils distended, breath quick and 
short. He stands with his head down, and has no 
disposition to move about; and you will hear a rat- 
tling in the throat, caused by an accumulation of 
mucous matter in the glotis or throttle, which be- 
comes swollen, so as to be perceivable on the out- 
side of the throat. A horse with this disease some- 
times has an inclination to eat, but with the lung 
fever, never. Quinsy is entirely an affection of the 
glands of the head and throat, distinct from the 
lungs. 

Take one ounce pulverized aloes, to half an ounce 
oil of sassafras ; mix with a little flour to make it 
thick, and then make it into balls about the size of 
a black walnut, or the yolk of an egg. This quan- 
tity is for one dose. Open the mouth, pull out the 
tongue, and put the ball on the roots of the tongue. 
This is the easiest way to give medicine. A thick 
heavy blister should be drawn on the throat, with a 
mustard or fly poultice, to draw the inflammation to 
the surface. Bathe the limbs with hot water, and 
bandage them well from the hoof to the knee ; bathe 
three or four times a day. When he has a disposi- 
tion to eat, give a mash of scalded wheat bran — two 
quarts twice a day. Give no hay or grain for three 
or four days ; then, if he breathes easy, you can 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 47 

increase the feed. Keep the horse from the wind, 
and well blanketed. 



DISTEMPEB. 

This disease is first discovered by swelling under 
the jaws, and the horse cannot swallow. This often 
causes thick wind. By breaking in the throat it be- 
comes a collus, where the opening of the throat was ; 
and when checking the horse up, there is not room 
for the wind, and he wheezes. By stopping this, he 
breathes easy again. It is most liable to attack 
young horses or colts ; and by taking it in time, 
there is not much danger. When it first makes its 
appearance, use either of the following remedies : 

Remedy No. 1. 

Bleed freely from the neck vein, and give from 
one-half to one pint of linseed oil, with three drachms 
of sassafras oil. 

Remedy No. 2. 

Bleed two gallons, and give him physic. Then, 
if a tumor is found under the jaws, open it ; if not, 
apply the general liniment or white ointment. Make 
it break on the outside, if possible ; then give the 
cleansing powders, in mashes, for ten or twelve 
days. 

General Liniment. 

Take half a pint of turpentine, half a pint of lin- 
seed oil, four ounces of aqua ammonia, and one 
ounce of tincture of iodine ; shake it well. 



48 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

STOPPAGE OF WATER. 

This, in most cases, is from allowing the horse to 
become foul; then what is called a bean forms in 
the end of the penis. The horse will stand and 
weave, or stretch out; then paw and kick his belly 
with his hind legs. He may drop down in harness, 
and sometimes breaks out in a profuse sweat. The 
only thing to be clone in this case is to draw his 
yard carefully, and run the finger around the head, 
where you will find two or three hard substances ; 
withdraw them, and wash the sheath clean, and 
grease it with lard. 

In some cases it originates from contraction of 
the muscles of the loins, or inaction of the kidneys. 
To cure this, bathe the loins with hot water for half 
an hour ; then bathe with hot vinegar and pepper- 
sauce ; then cover the loins with three or four thick- 
nesses of blankets. Mix of turpentine one ounce, 
sweet spirits of nitre two ounces, and give it as a 
drink. Give him a bran mash, with one spoonful 
of resin in it, every day for a week, and the cure is 
complete. 



WATER FARCY. 

This is a swelling along under the chest, and for- 
ward to the breast. Bleed, rowel in the breast, and 
all along the swelling, six inches apart. Apply the 
general liniment to the swelling ; move the rowels 
every day; let them stay in until the swelling goes 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 49 

down. Give soft food — mashes with the cleansing 
powder in it. 



DIABETES, OR TOO FREE DISCHAEOE OF TJRINE. 

Give half an ounce of tincture cantharides every 
morning, for ten or twelve days ; and if not entirely 
well, repeat it again, and bleed one gallon from the 
neck. Give clean food. The cause is rotten or 
musty grain, or too free use of turpentine. Keep 
him open with mashes and green food. 



PLEURISY. 

This is an attack of the membrane covering the 
lungs and the lining of the chest, called the pleura. 
The symptoms are nearly the same as in inflamma- 
tion of the lungs. The horse has no disposition to 
lie down or move about. The neck will be the same 
as in lung fever ; nostrils distended, and the mem- 
brane of the nose very red. He breathes very hard, 
with a kind of grunt ; the legs will be cold, and he 
will have a hard, full pulse. The blood, however, 
is not obstructed in its passage through the lungs. 
By pressing on his side, he will give symptoms of 
pain in a very decided grunt. 

Blister both sides of the chest, and bathe the legs 

in hot water; or boil bran, and then put an old 

pantaloon leg on over his, and fill in around with 

hot bran. This will get up a circulation in the 

5 



50 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

extremities. Then give one and a half drachms of 
emetic tartar, two drachms of digitalis, and three 
drachms of nitre. Keep him well covered with 
warm clothing. Use one ounce cream of tartar in 
two quarts of tepid water, for a drink. Be sure to 
keep the legs warm by hot applications and ban- 
dages. Use these medicines until a cure is effected. 



EARACHE. 

This is generally called flea in the ear. The horse 
is taken suddenly with shaking of the head, and 
holding it to one side or the other. These attacks 
are generally as soon as the animal is taken from 
the stable into the air. This is frequently brought 
on by drenching the horse in the ear to cure fistula 
and pollevil. This practice should be abandoned. 

Take equal portions of olive oil and laudanum ; 
shake it well, and drop fifteen or twenty drops into 
the ear every time the horse is taken. If you find, 
by pressing upon the under part of the ear, at the 
root, he flinches much, it would be proper to apply 
some of the liniment everv few days. 



DROPS TO MAKE OLD HORSES YOTJNG. 
Take one ounce of asafoetida, one ounce of tinc- 
ture cantharides, two ounces of antimony, one ounce 
tenu greek, and half a gallon of first-proof brandy. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 51 

Let it stand twelve days, and give him twelve drops 
in each gallon of water. 



THUMPS IN HORSES. 
This is caused by too much feed and water, and 
fast driving. Overloading the stomach with food 
and water, then driving fast, the stomach becomes 
distended with undigested food, which prevents the 
inflating of the lungs ; the muscles of the lungs be- 
come sore and weak, and cause them to thump. If 
this is of long standing, it will be incurable ; but by 
a moderate amount of water, and a reasonable quan- 
tity of grain, you will prevent it. 



RESTORATION OF THE APPETITE. 
Take four ounces of pulverized caraway seed, 
four ounces of bruised raisins, two ounces of ginger, 
and two ounces of palm oil. Always use twice as 
much of the first as of the last, in whatever quantity 
you wish to make. Give it to him in small balls, 
once a day, until the appetite is restored. Use a 
bran mash at the same time. 



POULTICES. 
Few horsemen are aware of the value of these 
simple preparations, in abating inflammation and 



52 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

relieving pain, cleansing wounds and causing them* 
to heal. They are the best kinds of fomentations ; 
they continue longer, and keep the pores open. In 
all inflammations of the foot, and in cases of con- 
tractions, they are very beneficial. A poultice that 
retains the heat and moisture longest is the best. 
They will relieve swellings, take out the soreness 
from the pores, and draw out the unnatural sub- 
stances. 

Linseed meal makes the best poultice ; it will 
hasten any tumor that it is necessary to open, and 
cleanse any old one, causing a healthy discharge, 
where it is offensive. But in this case — when the 
ulcer swells badly — add two ounces of pulverized 
charcoal, or chloride of lime ; half an ounce to one 
pound of meal. This is good to use in grease or 
cracked heels. 

A poultice should never be put on tight. Car- 
rots are very good, mashed fine, after boiling soft. 
The coal may be used in this also, where the parts 
smell offensively. 



ADHESIVE PLASTER. 
These plasters should be used over parts that 
have been strained, or otherwise weakened, and on 
deep-seated inflammation of the loins or back sinews. 
They are always to be applied warm, as then they 
will adhere for a long time. The following is a 
good plaster : 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 53 

Take five ounces of Burgundy or common pitch, 
one ounce of yellow wax, and six ounces of tar. 
Melt them together; and when cooled to blood- 
heat, add half a drachm of pulverized cantharides. 
Stir it well together. 

When you apply it, warm or melt it over, and rub 
it well into the hair upon the sprain ; then, while it 
is warm — for it should be applied as hot as possi- 
ble — spread over it a lint of tow, well picked, and 
pat it .down with the hand. This will make a strong 
covering, and will remain for months. It will grad- 
ually remove deep-seated inflammation, and, by its 
pressure, promotes the absorption of any callus or 
thickening beneath ; at the same time, as a bandage, 
it gives strength to the parts. 



PHYSICING. 

There is more injury done in the practice of this, 
than in any other medical treatment of the horse. 
The old practice has been to physic and bleed every 
spring ; but this is only necessary when the horse is 
really sick. When you change him from the pas- 
ture to the warm stable and dry food, it is also good ; 
but the horse must be prepared for it. Give him 
three or four mashes before the physic, and, in the 
majority of cases, they will be sufficient without it, 
especially if the bowels are slightly moved ; for the 
less medicine given the better. 
5* 



54 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

After the physic is given, the horse should have 
walking exercise for an hour or two ; but when it 
begins to operate, he should be kept as still as pos- 
sible, or the medicine would be likely to gripe, and 
perhaps irritate the intestinal canal, and cause inflam- 
mation. You can give him a small amount of hay, 
and as much mash as he will eat, and as much water, 
with the chill off, as he chooses to drink. If he will 
not drink tepid water, give him about a quart of 
cold water every hour. When the purging ceases, 
give a mash twice a day, until you give more physic, 
which should be once in a week. 

Barbadoes aloes is the best purgative, being always 
sure and safe. The dose, with the horse prepared 
by bran mashes, would vary from five to seven 
drachms — the latter sufficient for any horse. You 
can dissolve it in warm water, and give as a drench, 
or make it into a ball with linseed oil, and lay it 
upon the roots of the tongue, letting go the tongue 
at the same time. 

The next best purgative is the Croton nut — the 
farina or meal of the nut being used. It should be 
made into a ball with linseed oil. Give him from a 
scruple to half a drachm, according to the scate of 
the subject. It acts more speedily than aloes, but 
causes more debility. Linseed oil is uncertain, but 
safe, in doses from a pound to a pound and a half. 
It leaves the horse in very good condition. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 55 

FOMENTATIONS. 

The benefits derived from these results from the 
warmth of the water, and not from any medicinal 
property in it otherwise. Fomentations increase 
the warmth of the skin, and open the pores, pro- 
moting perspiration ; and thus relieving inflamma- 
tion, lessens the tension and swelling of the part. 
Fomentations, to be of benefit, should be frequent 
and long, and as hot as the horse can bear. There 
is no way to relieve the distended vessels so quickly 
as by this remedy. 

For all external inflammations, and in the early 
stages of internal, cold water bathing will be best. 
Dissolve one ounce of nitre in one pint of water, 
and it will make the water much colder. Use it as 
soon as dissolved, and do not bandage for an hour 
after bathing ; then bandage to strengthen the leg. 



BLISTERS, 
Or any stimulating applications, must not be used 
on any part already inflamed. It increases the fire, 
instead of putting it out. 



BLISTERING. 

The most effectual blister is an ointment made as 
follows : — One drachm of Spanish flies, one drachm 
of resin, and four ounces of lard. Melt the resin 



56 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

and lard together, then add the flies. Rub the 
parts with the hand until you create a heat, then 
apply the blister. This is good for strain in the 
pastern. 

The best liquid blister is cantharides and tur- 
pentine — equal parts. 



ACTION OF THE KIDNEYS ON THE BLOOD. 

The blood contains a great quantity of watery 
fluid, unnecessary for the nutriment or repair of the 
frame. There also mingles with it matters which 
would become noxious if allowed to accumulate too 
much. The kidneys are actively employed in sepa- 
rating these fluids, and in carrying off a substance 
which, as an ingredient in the urine, is called the 
urea, and consists of what would be poisonous to 
the animal, if remaining. 

The kidneys are two large glandular bodies placed 
under the loins, very much the shape ^of a kidney 
bean. The right kidney is forward under the liver; 
the left is back by the stomach and spleen. A large 
artery runs to each, and carries about one-sixth 
part of the whole blood that circulates through the 
frame. It divides into numberless little branches, 
most complicated, and coiled upon each other. The 
blood has waste parts, which, if allowed to remain, 
would be very injurious j and these must be sepa- 
rated from it. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 51 

The fluid separated varies materially in quantity 
and composition, even during health — more so in 
the horse than in any other animal — and there is no 
organ so much under our control as the kidneys. 

Diuretics are the most useful of medicines, and 
at the same time, the most injurious, if improperly 
used. 

In fevers, and in inflammation generally, for a 
diuretic, use nitre and digitalis, on account of their 
sedative effects. They stimulate the kidneys to 
separate more than the usual quantity of water from 
the blood, and lessen the quantity of the latter. The 
object in this is to reduce the circulation, and thus 
ease the heart in its labor, by calming the excite- 
ment. An overflow of blood gives quicker action 
to the heart, and causes the heavy beating you will 
notice in lung fever. Diuretics lessen the blood, 
and give more perfect control over the heart. 

In cases where the legs are swelled, the absorb- 
ents set to work, and take up and pour into the 
circulation the fluid which has been effused into 
them. 

The legs of some horses cannot be rendered fine, 
nor kept so, without the use of diuretics ; nor can 
what is called grease heels— frequently connected 
with these swellings — be cured without the use of 
these medicines. But in the use of them, always let 
the horse have plenty of tepid water ; the more the 
better. You must also be careful not to keep him 
too warm; for if he sweats, the medicine, instead 



58 THE AMERICAN FARRI'ER 

of stimulating the kidneys, passes off in perspira- 
tion. 



TO KEEP HORSES FREE EROM DISEASE. 

The stable must be clean and well ventilated. 
There is nothing so conducive to good health as 
pure air and clean food. The ceiling of the stable 
should be at least ten or twelve feet high, with a 
ventilating box at the head, four inches square, run- 
ning out at the roof. The loft should be perfectly 
tight, so that the breath of the horse cannot rise 
and mix with the hay, which may be injured both in 
taste and wholesomeness. It is a bad plan to put 
hay in a rack ; the horse breathes on it, and makes 
it less palatable and healthy. Feed from a box in 
front, and but little at a time ; he will neither waste 
it or otherwise injure it. The ventilation in the 
wall of the stable should be as high up as possible, 
so as not to injure him by drafts of air, from which 
he should always be kept. These currents of air 
are one great cause of inflammation of the lungs. 

Baltimore is one of the worst places for this dis- 
ease, for this reason — it is one of the best markets 
for horses. They are bought up in Kentucky, and 
are taken by traders to small towns first, where they 
are well clothed and pampered ; they are then 
brought to market, and put in large brick stables, 
with doors at each end, and with a great number of 
horses in the same stable. The air, from so many 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 59 

breathing it, is bad, and the hay is more or less 
injured. The doors are opened every morning at 
each end of the stable. The groom goes to work 
cleaning oat his stalls, after which he unhitches a 
horse, and backs him out of his stall into the centre 
of the stable, where the current of air is sweeping 
through. The groom goes to work, after he has 
stripped off the clothing, with his comb and brush. 
The pores of the skin are open, and by the time 
he has been in his stall five or ten minutes, he 
begins to shiver, or has a chill, which may be the 
commencement of lung fever, quinsy, or some other 
disease. 

Filthy stables cause weak eyes, and a running at 
the nose, in many instances. The decomposition 
of vegetable matter and the urine, gives out stimu- 
lating and unhealthy vapors, and a very strong 
smell like hartshorn. How can it but cause inflam- 
mation of the eyes or lungs, or glanders and farcy ? 
How common are these diseases in large cities, at 
the horse markets! 

Be careful and have your stables so that the urine 
will run off; but do not raise the planking so that 
it will be higher at the front than at the back, for 
this will cause a strain of the back sinews, and lame- 
ness, and thickening up of the same. For instance, 
try yourself to stand with your toes up, and see if it 
does not make the calves of your legs ache. It is 
an unnatural way for a man or horse to stand. This 
would also cause contraction of the heels, by throw- 



60 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

ing too much weight on the toes, and removing the 
pressure from the heels, which tend most to keep 
them open. 

The horse-stalls should have holes bored in the 
planking, and be kept open. In summer, the horse 
should always stand on straw, or litter of some kind; 
it relieves the feet in stamping. It is not necessary, 
however, if he stands on a dirt floor. 

You should always have the stable light. It is 
very injurious to keep horses in a dark stable, as 
it is bad for the eyes, and many horses go blind 
from this cause. But you should likewise avoid a 
glaring light, or very white walls. Give him a 
mellow light, with clean stabling, clean food, clean 
litter, and all will be well. 



PRICK OR GRAVEL IN THE FOOT. 

There are many causes for sudden lameness in the 
horse. The taking up of a nail or any hard sharp 
substance on the road, or a prick by the blacksmith 
in shoeing, are the most common causes. 

In removing the shoe to ascertain the cause of the 
lameness, every nail should be drawn separately and 
carefully, and then examined to see if there is any 
moisture, or matter adhering to it, for the nail 
which has caused the prick will be likely to bring 
some signs out with it ; then the foot should be 
pared off, and examined. If punctured near the toe, 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 61 

it may not injure the foot much, as there is but lit- 
tle motion at that part, and it will soon heal; but a 
puncture in the centre of the foot may wound the 
flexor tendon, and may even pierce through the 
tendon into the joint, and inflammation may ensue, 
which, if neglected, would prove fatal. 

The smallest puncture in these parts is dangerous. 
When the lameness is caused by taking up a nail, 
the nail should be withdrawn, and the sole pared 
down at the opening. Then put in the wound one 
or two drops of antimony — the butyr — and put tow 
over it, and bind it on ; let this remain on for two 
hours, then bind on a piece of raw fat pork ; but if 
the foot becomes inflamed, put on a poultice of flax- 
seed meal, or any other kind that is drawing, and if 
there is a slight formation of horn over the wound, 
cauterize it again with the antimony, and afterward 
poultice again. If there is an appearance of fungus 
sprouting from the exposed surface, the application 
of the butyr should be frequent, and this treatment 
will soon heal it up. In searching the foot, be care- 
ful not to pare away too much of the horn and sole ; 
after paring off the frog and sole, and smoothing it, 
you can ascertain by a few taps of the hammer on 
the horn if there be a prick. 

In all cases of taking up a nail, or gravel, or a 
prick, the butyr of antimony, as a caustic, will kill 
the poison from the nail, and the poultice will re- 
lieve the inflammation. 

The wound should never be stopped up, as many 
6 



62 THE AMERICAN FARRTER 

do, with pitch and tar. which keeps the virus in, and 
causes more to accumulate, and finally breaks out at 
the top of the hoof or coronet. The wound should 
be kept open in the first place a number of days, 
until it has discharged freely ; it may then be neces- 
sary to use the horse salve to heal it up. In cases 
where there is much inflammation, a gentle purge 
should be given, of five drachms of aloes in a ball. 
He should first be prepared for it by giving bran 
mashes a day or two before the purge. 



FEVER. 

If there is any local inflammation in the horse, 
the whole system sympathizes with it, and sometimes 
causes fever ; and sometimes there is a general fever 
of the system, caused by colds taken by being kept 
in ill- ventilated stables, and being taken suddenly 
from them into the extreme cold. 

But the lungs are so weakened by this treatment, 
and the feet are so tender from bad shoeing and 
careless management, that a general or pure fever 
will not run long before it settles into inflammation 
of these parts ; but sometimes the fever will run its 
course as such. 

The horse, when taken with fever, often shivers as 
if cold; he does not seem inclined to move, and his 
hair will be rough, set forward or up, and his feet 
cold. Then follows a warm turn, only that while 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 63 

some of the legs are warm, the others will be very 
cold. His pulse is quick, soft, and sometimes you 
can hardly feel any ; he breathes hard and unnatu- 
rally, has but little appetite, and becomes very 
costive. 

During the course of the fever, the shivering fit 
returns about the same hour every day, followed by 
the warm one, with slight sweating, until it runs its 
course, or settles into local inflammation. 

It will be dangerous to give an active purge, but 
one drachm and a half of aloes should be given at 
night and morning, until the bowels are slightly re- 
laxed. About an hour after giving the aloes, give 
digitalis, emetic tartar, and nitre, one drachm each, 
until the pulse becomes more regular; make a ball 
of this, and roll up in tissue-paper ; then give white 
hellebore, half a drachm, night and morning. As 
soon as he will eat, give him bran mashes twice a 
day, and boiled oats the same, about a quart at a 
time. If symptoms of inflammation of the lungs 
should appear, clothe him warmly, and keep his 
stable well ventilated, and treat him otherwise as 
given under the head of inflammation of the lungs. 



COLIC OR CHOLERA IN MULES. 

This appears to be a prevalent disease on the 
plantations, and is brought on by giving too much 
food and water at one time, and then immediately 



64 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

putting them to work. The hard work retards di- 
gestion, and a gas is generated from the food and 
water, which fills the stomach and bowels, and sets 
the bots at work. The gas would kill the bot, and 
to save himself he bores into the membrane of the 
stomach, or tries to get out at the meat-pipe, or by 
the passage between the stomachs. They will thus 
stop up the passages, sometimes, and kill the ani- 
mal. But if the passages are open, the gas will 
pass into the bowels, and then the disease is colic. 
He will be much swollen and distended, breathe 
short and hard, and will fall or lay down, and get 
up ; his ears will lop over on each side, and his eyes 
look dull and heavy. When the mule is first taken, 
take him out of the stable, and keep him as still as 
possible, and, in the majority of cases, he will recover 
without the use of medicine. 

If he does not thus get over it, take one ounce 
laudanum, one ounce ether, two tablespoonfalls of 
soda, two drachms of peppermint; put with half a 
pint of hot gin, and give as a drench. Then give 
injections of one ounce of aloes dissolved in warm 
water. This is an effectual cure. 



METHOD OF ADMINISTERING MEDICINES TO HORSES. 

The author almost invariably administers medi- 
cine in the form of drench, using a common cham- 
pagne bottle. Some persons, however, assert that 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 65 

"there is great danger in drenching horses from a bot- 
tle, and that it is very difficult to make them swallow 
fluid." We never knew of any accident following 
the use of the bottle, where ordinary caution was 
observed. There is a space between the canine 
teeth and grinders where the bottle can be intro- 
duced, and if kept in that position while " drench- 
ing the horse," it cannot do any harm. Our usual 
plan is, to stand on the right side of the horse, our 
back turned towards his body ; we then take a firm 
hold of the lower jaw with the left hand, at the same 
time moderately elevating the head, (not too high,) 
while with the right we gradually pour down the 
contents of the bottle. Time should be taken in 
the process, and if it is poured down in small quan- 
tities at a time, so much the better ; the horse will 
be more likely to swallow it, especially if it shall 
be made palatable by the addition of a few caraway 
seeds or a little honey. Horses, like children, must 
be handled in the most gentle manner. They will 
generally refuse to drink even a little gruel, when 
any unnecessary severity is resorted to in its admin- 
istration. They may be coaxed, but not forced. 

In answer to the second objection, we observe, 
that there is no more difficulty (not half so much) 
in administering a drench to a horse, under ordinary 
circumstances, than there is in giving a ball. To 
the latter we have great objections. First, in refer- 
ence to its bulk ; secondly, the length of time it 
takes for the gastric fluids to dissolve it ; and lastly, 



66 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

its action is uncertain. Whereas medicine given in 
the fluid form, is readily taken up by the lacteals, and 
operates, for good or evil, in much less time. It has 
also been urged that, when a horse is suffering from 
disease of the respiratory organs, the additional ex- 
citement following the use of drenching is unfavora- 
ble to the cure. Unfortunately, we are in a worse 
predicament when a ball is given, for then the tongue 
is forcibly drawn out of the mouth, while the hand 
is passed up to its root, where the ball is deposited. 
Our own experience in the matter leads us to decide 
in favor of the bottle. If any further proofs of its 
utility are wanting, we may mention the fact that 
one-half of our city horsemen are in the habit of ad- 
ministering drink from the bottle without accident. 



LYMPHATITIS. 

" Lymphatitis is a disease which, although with- 
out place in any of our systematic books by our 
professed writers, is yet, upon the whole, well 
known, and is designated by a variety of names. In 
Scotland, for example, it is called weed ; while in 
various parts of England it is known as felltick, 
thick leg, farcy, water farcy, sliot-o K grease, and a 
number of others which it is unnecessary to detail, 
and which, if detailed, would be perfectly impossi- 
ble to understand. Fifteen years ago, a Mr. J. 
Henderson wrote a paper upon this affection, which 
the reader will find in the ninth volume of The 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 6? 

Veterinarian ; and from that time to the present it 
does not appear that our knowledge of its patholo- 
gy is very greatly increased. 

" Symptoms. — The disease, for the most part, 
commences with a shivering fit, though, in many 
cases, its existence may be so slight, and its dura- 
tion so short, as not to be noticed by any save a 
careful observer. Generally the attack is very sud- 
den ; the owner, or the servant in care, may go now, 
as it were, out of the stable, and leave his horse to 
all appearance perfectly well ; and upon returning in 
an hour hence he will find him standing upon three 
legs, while the fourth will be flexed and held high 
from the ground ; the pulse will vary in its beats 
according to the intensity of the attack, rarely, how- 
ever, beating less than fifty, or more than one hun- 
dred per minute ; while the respirations may be fif- 
teen or twenty, or even forty, in the same interval of 
time. If the affected limb be examined, it will be 
found hot and swollen, and tender if pressed upon, 
which symptoms, for many hours, will gradually in- 
crease in intensity. Soon after commencement, a 
number of vessels may be seen running across the 
limb in various directions, of about the thickness of 
a quill ; they are the most numerous, however, upon 
the inner surface of the leg, where they appear to ter- 
minate in round or irregular formed masses, which 
masses are acutely tender if squeezed within the 
hand ; these prominent vessels are the inflamed lym- 
phatics, and the prominent masses alluded to are the 



68 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

inflamed lymphatic glands. Sometimes the swelling 
extends from the junction of the limb with the body 
down to the very foot ; at other times it only reaches 
down to the hock, and when very severe, a sort of 
dew exudes from the skin and lies upon the hair. 

The coarser the breed and the older the animal, 
the greater the liability to lymphatitis. Young, 
coarse-bred horses are also very prone to it, parti- 
cularly if highly fed and under worked ; but in the 
young horse, the disease, in the majority of cases, if 
not in all, quickly runs its course, and the affected 
limb becomes in time perfectly restored to its pris- 
tine condition, and if due precaution be taken, the 
malady may not again manifest itself, at least for 
years to come ; while in old horses the diseased 
limb is seldom or never reduced — it remains perma- 
nently thickened, and the animal is extremely liable 
to have acute or sub-acute attacks of the same dis- 
ease periodically. In the majority of cases, again, 
its action is usually confined to a hind leg, and that 
on the left side ; sometimes both limbs are affected, 
but never, that I have seen, very acutely so at the 
same time ; the left limb might be attacked, and 
some time afterwards the right one, but never both 
limbs simultaneously. I have also found that if the 
disease be treated according to the old mode, name- 
ly, by bleeding and purging, the horses so treated 
are prone to be attacked far more frequently than 
when treated homceopathically. 

" Causes. — The predisposing causes are simple, 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 69 

the chief of which are peculiarity of breed, and the 
regular giving of very nutritious food in too great 
abundance ; also previous attacks of the same dis- 
ease, old age, and the sudden changing of the ani- 
mal from a poor to a rich diet. The immediate or 
exciting causes are — heavy blows upon the limbs ; 
severe scatches or cuts ; sudden over-exertion; work- 
ing of the animal in water, or very wet ground ; the 
sudden checking of old discharges from diseased 
limbs, such as grease, bad thrushes, &c. ; allowing 
the animal to stand in cold draughts when per- 
spiring freely, or checking the perspiration sud- 
denly by riding him into a stream of cold water.'' — 
Veterinary Homoeopathy, by Surgeon Haycock, 

Treatment — 'ihe best treatment the author 
knows of is, to apply diluted tincture of arnica ex- 
ternally, and give twenty grains of hydriodate of 
potassa twice daily. 



ON THE GADFLY GRUB FOUND EENEATH THE SKIN 
OF THE HORSE. 

"We know that the horse harbors several spe- 
cies of cestrides, or gadflies, in his body, of which 
those best known are the oestrus equi, and oestrus 
veterinus, and the oestrus hdemorrhoidalis, whose 
habitations are the stomach and intestines. But 
what we do not seem to be generally aware of is, 
that under the skin, even, larvse, or grubs, of the 



10 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

diptera family breed and give rise to the formation 
of tumors analogous to sucli as strike our notice, at 
certain times of the year, upon the bodies of our 
large ruminants ; and particularly of those who 
appear, in all other respects, to enjoy the best 
health. Redi and Huzard (the father) have 
spoken of these inhabitants of the skin of the horse. 
Bracy Clark, likewise, has mentioned them in his 
Essay on Bots ; but he regards them as identical 
wdth those of the hypoderma species which exist 
underneath the thick skin of the ox. 

" Dr. Roulin, of the Institute, in his Researches 
on certain changes observed in Domestic Animals 
transported from the Old to the New Continent, 
expresses himself as follows : ' In the hatos of 
Llanos, the horses are almost entirely left to them- 
selves. They are driven up only from time to time 
to keep them from becoming quite wild, to take off 
them the larvae of the cestri, and to mark the foals 
with a red-hot iron. To what species do these 
American larvae belong ? As yet we remain in 
ignorance of this.' Last of all, M. Loiset, a cele- 
brated veterinary surgeon of the- Department of the 
North, published some years ago, a short Notice of 
the (Estrus Guticolens of the horse, and has given 
a description of the larvae of this oestrus, of which 
w r e have, according to the text, made a full copy. 

"At the present day, with nature herself before 
our eyes, we feel satisfied that this description, con- 
fessed to be imperfect even by the author himself, 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. fl 

viewed as a branch of natural history, is wanting in 
exactitude. And this induced him to introduce a 
portrait of the insect in question, with a fresh de- 
scription of it more in accordance with the rigorous 
precision prescribed by science. 

"Its character once well established, we shall be 
able readily to resolve the question, whether the 
oestrus in point be identical with the hypoderme of 
the ox, or whether it constitutes another species to 
be added to the genus hypoderma. 

" The larva cuticolens (skin-habitant grub) of 
the horse has a cylindrical form, measuring more 
round in its fore than its hinder part. It is without 
brain or feet. Its body is constituted of eleven 
segments, including the one in which is found the 
buccal orifice, (or mouth,) which consists of a very 
small hole, edged with a black border, with some 
bristles around so fine as to be with difficulty per- 
ceptible by the naked eye. The foremost segment 
is of all the smallest. From this the segments, as 
far back as the fifth, grow gradually larger ; while, 
on the contrary, the five posterior continue to di- 
minish as they approach the hinder part. These 
segments, examined upon their ventral surface, with 
the exception of the two last, are divided trans- 
versely, by slight grooves, into two unequal halves, 
each furnished with a great number of spinous tu- 
bercles, whose points, upon the anterior half of the 
segments, are directed backwards, but forwards 
upon the posterior half. Two cribriform plates, the 



72 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

sole organ of respiration with which the grub is fur- 
nished, are seated upon a sort of flattened termina- 
tion of the anal segment. 

"Alike in this respect to the hypoderma bovis, 
the skin-habitant grub of the horse has, contrary to 
what is observed in the majority of cases, the infe- 
rior surface of the body convex, while the dorsal 
side of the segments is slightly concave. Such form 
is in this manner exactly fitted to the spherical 
cavity which serves as a habitation for the parasite. 
It is worthy of remark, that the dorsal surface of 
the body is without bristles, save upon the two or 
three foremost segments. The general color of the 
skin is white; the bristly tubercles alone being 
brown, more or less shaded. The skin itself is 
translucid and vesiculous, as it were. In size, the 
larva is much below the hyperdoma bovis, since it 
does not exceed an inch in length, while the larva 
of the ox oestrus, at full growth, attains to from 
three to four inches. 

" This difference, in itself considerable, is not 
the only one we have to remark. Upon the subject 
of our inquiry we do not observe the six longitudi- 
nal lines which, upon the hypoderme of the ox, form 
so many series of tuberculous eminences, ranged at 
certain intervals from the first to the last segment. 
Neither are to be seen the five or six eminences sur- 
rounding the mouth of the latter; though to make 
up for it, we find the posterior and inferior side of 
the second segment a kind of transverse prominence 



» 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 73 

shooting beyond the surrounding skin, and fur- 
nished with very small tubercles, which have no ex- 
istence in the grub found in the skin of the ox. 

" These differences, united to those of size, suffice, 
in our mind, to authorize the conclusion, that the 
larva in question, though it belongs to the genus 
hypoderma, constitutes a distinct species, up to the 
present time undescribed, to which we shall give the 
name of hypoderma equi. 

" No doubt we shall be asked, What are the 
habits of this insect in its different states ? No- 
body, as yet, that we know of, has investigated 
them. The larva alone being recognized, it is to 
that the few observations apply of which science is 
in possession. We know that this larva is found 
principally upon horses that have been living at 
pasture in the months of July -end August, and that 
through its presence are caused large indurated 
knots or buttons upon the skin, which are found in 
the greatest numbers along the spine, from the 
withers to the croup inclusive. These buttons, 
whose volume varies from a lentil to a small nut, 
have, according to M. Loiset, a shape inclining to 
conical ; and, by carefully separating the hairs 
closing them, may be seen on their summit a nar- 
row aperture, resembling such as a large needle 
would make. Compressing the tumor causes to 
issue from this opening a minute quantity of puru- 
lent serosity, which, after being removed, is followed, 
in the last months of the growth of the tumor, by a 
1 



74 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

vesicular point, which is neither more nor less than 
the posterior extremity of the larva. The efforts 
made to expel this are ordinarily ineffectual up to 
the period at which its growth fits it for metamor- 
phosis ; when, by squeezing the pustule forcibly be- 
tween the nails, a vermicular body springs livelily 
out, as though impelled by elasticity, and rolls upon 
the ground. This body is no other than the larva. 
" There can be no doubt but that these larvae 
feed upon the pus which forms in the tumors that 
serve them as habitations up to the moment of their 
transformation ; neither is there any that the bris- 
tles clothing their body serve to augment the secre- 
tion of the pus through irritation of the skin, no 
more than there is doubt that the animal makes use 
of them, like the hypoderma of the ox, for the exe- 
cution of the motions required for his escape from 
his foul abode. Once at liberty, he sets out in 
search of shelter either in the earth or the dung, and 
therein, after having remained for ten or eleven 
months underneath the horse's skin, it changes into 

fly- 

" The larva that has been engaging our notice is 
comparatively rare in the south, but frequently found 
in the northern parts of France ; it is likewise com- 
mon in Belgium and Holland, along the entire shore 
of the Baltic and the North Sea. 

" Save the phenomena already detailed, the cuti- 
cular larva of the horse occasions, according to M. 
Loiset, no appreciable morbid derangement. Never- 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 75 

theless, about the period of its full growth, it ap- 
pears to occasion some troublesome itchings, which 
give way to lotions of cold water, at times slightly 
vinegared, or else to some of the means employed 
for the destruction of the larva of the hypoderma 
bovis. 

" How long does the state of fly continue ? What 
are the habits of the insect after it has arrived at 
its final transformation ? These two questions, as 
yet, wait for answers ; but it is to be hoped they 
will not wait much longer. We have for guaranty 
of this the renowned seal of MM. the professors of 
our Veterinary School, touching all that concerns 
the interest of science of which those gentlemen are 
the worthy representatives." — Translated by Mr. 
Percivall, from the Journal des Veterinaires du 
Midi. 



WOUNDS. 



The treatment of wounds depends altogether 
upon their nature and cause. It is very difficult in 
the horse — although not so in man — to heal a 
wound by what is called "first intention," which 
means union by medium of coagulable lymph with- 
out suppuration. The definition of wound, tech- 
nically is, a solution of continuity in the soft parts, 
produced by some mechanical agent. Wounds are 
divided into incised, contused, lacerated, punctured, 
and penetrating. 



76 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

Incised Wounds. 

Incised wounds are those inflicted by sharp in- 
struments. On the human body they often heal 
without any subsequent inflammation beyond what 
nature sets up in the restorative process ; but the 
difficulty of the horse is, that we cannot always 
keep the parts in contact, and therefore it is not so 
easy to unite them. In many cases, after having 
been at trouble to adjust by sutures the edges 
'of the divided parts, and when all seems going on 
favorably, the animal gets his head round, and tears 
the wound open afresh, so that our labor is all in 
vain. This puts a damper on healing by first 
intention. There are several other difficulties in 
the way of healing by this method, well known to 
anatomists. We shall just merely refer to the prin- 
cipal one, because it may satisfy the reader that 
some wounds had better not be sutured, for they 
put the subject to a great deal of pain to no pur- 
pose. Horses, as well as some othffr animals, have, 
in lieu of hands, a peculiar muscular arrangement 
under the skin, by means of which they can shake off 
flies and other foreign bodies ; and it is owing to 
the facility with which they can jerk or move the 
skin that we often fail in uniting flesh wounds. 
Other obstacles are to be met with, both in relation 
to the size of the wound and as regards its anatomi- 
cal direction. If the wound is seen immediately 
after infliction, and there seems to be the least pro- 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. TT 

bability of healing by first intention, we place a 
twitch on the horse's nose, and examine the part. 
If there be found neither dirt nor foreign body of 
any kind, the blood had better not be washed off; 
for this is the best healing material in the world. 
The edges are then to be brought together by in- 
terrupted sutures, taking care not to include the 
hair between the edges of the wound, for that would 
effectually prevent union. Nothing more is needed 
but to secure the animal so that he cannot get at it. 
If he is to be kept in the stable, without exercise 
for any length of time, he had better be put on half 
diet. Pure air will not hurt him / 



Contused Wounds. 

These are generally occasioned by hooks or 
some blunt body connected with the harness or ve- 
hicle. They generally leave a gaping wound with 
bruised edges. We have only to remember that 
nature possessed the power of repairing injuries of 
this kind — of filling up»the parts and covering them 
with new skin ; all we have to do is, to attend to the 
general health of the animal, and keep the wound in 
a healthy condition. Our usual application is the 
compound tincture of myrrh. If the part assume 
an unhealthy aspect, a charcoal poultice will rectify 
that. If such cannot be applied, owing to the sit- 
uation of the wound, dress it with pyroligneous 
acid. 

?* 



78 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 



Lacerated Wounds. 



Lacerated wounds are generally in the form of a 
rent rather than cut, inflicted (as we have seen 
cases) by the caiking of a shoe tearing off the in- 
teguments and subcellular tissue, leaving a sort of 
triangular flap. In these cures we generally em- 
ploy sutures, and treat them the same as incised 
wounds. 

Punctured Wounds. 

Punctured wounds are those inflicted by a pointed 
body, as a nail in the foot, point of fork, or splinter 
of wood. These are the most dangerous kinds of 
wounds, for they are frequently the cause of fistula 
and locked-jaw. 

We make it an invariable rule, in the treatment 
of punctured wounds, to first examine by probe or 
otherwise, and remove any foreign body that may 
be present, and then poultice with flaxseed, into 
which we stir a small quantity of fir balsam. In 
puncture of the foot by nail, instead of plastering it 
with tar, and forcing a tent into the orifice, and 
then covering the sole with leather, as most black- 
smiths are wont to do, we have the shoe taken off, 
the foot washed clean, and a moderately warm poul- 
tice applied, and renewed daily, until the suppura- 
tive stage commences. That once established, we 
consider our patient safe ; for many men, as well as 
animals, have lost their lives from the absorption of 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 19 

pus formed in the wound after the external breach 
had healed. When a bone is injured by the point- 
of a nail, or fork, the cure is rather tedious ; the 
primary means, however, are the same. The poul- 
tices may be followed by astringent injections, as 
alum water, &c. In case of injury to the bone, we 
use pyroligneous acid ; to be thrown into the 
wound by means of a small syringe. If extensive 
disease of the bone sets in, the services of a vete- 
rinary surgeon will be required. A very profuse or 
unhealthy discharge from a punctured wound must 
be met by constitutional remedies. Sulphur and 
sassafras, to the amount of half an ounce each, every 
other day, to the amount of three or four doses, 
will arrest the morbid phenomenon. The local 
remedy in all cases of this kind is diluted ascetic or 
pyroligneous acid. For the treatment of a fistu- 
lous opening, see Fistula. For puncture of joints, 
see Open Joint. 

Penetrating Wounds 

Are inflicted by the horns of cattle, stakes, shafts, 
&c, and have to be treated according to the nature 
of the case. A penetrating wound of the walls of 
the abdomen is generally followed by protrusion of 
the intestine; this has to be returned; the wound 
is then closed by strong sutures, and the belly must 
be encircled with a long bandage. In such cases, 
we generally keep the bowels soluble with scalded 



80 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

shorts, well seasoned with salt, and empty the rec- 
tum occasionally by enema. 

Penetrating Wound of Intestine. 

To illustrate the mode of procedure when the 
intestine is wounded, the following case is intro- 
duced : We were called to see a three-year old colt 
that had been gored by a cow. The animal had a 
wound on the off side, about four inches in length, 
in the iliac region, through which a portion of the 
small intestine protruded. On exploring the breach, 
it was found to run in a slanting direction, and as it 
approached the peritoneum, was found quite small, 
scarcely admitting the little finger ; here the bowel 
was both strangulated and lacerated, the intestinal 
opening being external to the stricture. Before 
proceeding to cast the horse, a twitch was placed 
on the nose, and the edges of the wounded intestine 
were neatly sewed together with a very fine suture 
needle. Our reason for doing this before casting 
was, lest in the animal's struggles, the bowel might 
recede, and give us some trouble in getting hold of 
it again. There was not much danger of it, how- 
ever ; still we wanted to be on the safe side. The 
intestinal wound was not produced by the cow's 
horn, but took place some three hours afterwards, 
and two before we saw the case, in the following 
manner : the protruded bowel had become distended 
with gas, and according to the owner's accouut, was 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 81 

about the size of his two fists. The animal, proba- 
bly being in pain, got down and rolled on the 
injured side, and thus burst the gut. After sewing 
up the wounded intestine, it was cleansed with 
warm water, and attempts were made to return it 
within the abdomen, but to no purpose. We then 
cast the patient, and, by means of a bundle of straw 
on each side, propped him on his back ; the bowel 
did not return so easily as we had expected, for it 
was found necessary to dilate the stricture by means 
of a button-pointed bistoury. The several layers 
of abdominal muscles were then sutured with as 
much nicety as the nature of the wound admitted ; 
and lastly the integuments were brought together 
by interrupted suture. This case terminated unfa- 
vorably, for the animal died on the sixth day, from 
peritonitis. It may be well to observe that the 
accident happened on a very cold day, in the depth 
of winter; and the bowel being so long exposed to 
the depressing influence of cold, probably led to 
the fatal result ; for it is well known that opera- 
tions of this kind often prove successful. It may 
be interesting to the reader to know that wounds 
of the intestines heal as readily as those of other 
parts, as the following cases will show : 

. An incision one inch and a half in length was 
made in the bowels of a dog ; the wound of the 
integuments was closed by suture ; the animal was 
scarcely affected by the operation, took food as 
usual, and had natural evacuations. At the end of 



82 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

a fortnight, when perfectly recovered, he was killed 
for the purpose of examining the bowel, when the 
wound appeared to be perfectly healed. 

In the eighteenth volume of the Philosophical 
Transactions, a similar experiment is related by 
Mr. W. Cooper : " An opening was made in the 
abdomen of a dog ; a large wound was made in 
the intestines, and the wound in the abdomen was 
stitched up ; the dog recovered without any bad 
symptoms, and became perfectly well in a few days 
after." It should be observed that the bowel does 
not appear to have been stitched up when returned 
into the belly. The following experiment by Mr. 
Travers is still more remarkable: "A ligature of 
thin packthread was firmly tied round the first in- 
testine — duodenum — of a dog, so as completely to 
obstruct it ; the ends of the strings were cut off, 
and the parts returned ; the wound in the abdomen 
was closed, and the animal expressed no sign of 
suffering when the operation was concluded. On 
the following day he was frequently sick, and 
vomited some milk that was given him ; his respira- 
tion was hurried. Third day his sickness continued, 
and he vomited some bilious fluid. Fifth day he 
passed a copious stool of the same appearance as 
the fluid discharged by vomiting ; his sickness from 
this time ceased, and his breathing was natural ; he 
took bread and milk, and drank abundantly of 
water. Seventh day he had three similar evacua- 
tions, and appeared well, eating animal food freely. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 83 

On the fifteenth day, his cure being established, he 
was killed for the purpose of examination. The 
ligature which was fastened around the intestine 
divided the interior coats of the gut, in this respect 
resembling the operation of a ligature upon an 
artery ; the peritoneal or outer coat alone main- 
tained its integrity. The inflammation which the 
ligature induces on either side of it is terminated by 
the deposition of a coat of lymph, exterior to the 
ligature ; this quickly becomes organized ; and the 
ligature, thus enclosed, is liberated by the ulcerative 
process, falls of necessity into the canal, and passes 
off by stool. ,, — Travers on Injuries. 

Penetrating Wounds of the Chest. 

Wounds of this cj^aracter are not fatal, provided 
the lungs or heart are not perforated. All that can 
be done is to suture the wound, pass several turns 
of a roller round the chest, and adopt such consti- 
tutional means as the case serins to require. 



SPRINGHALT. 

This peculiar spasmodic affection of muscles in 
the hind extremities is not so common among 
American horses as it is among the French and 
German breeds. It is an affection over which the 
veterinary surgeon, armed with the whole materia 
medica, has very little power ; for, in the nervous 



84 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

system first originates the cause, which subsequently 
gives rise to the peculiar gait termed springhalt ; 
and the practitioners of all creeds have acknowledged 
their inability to direct medicine to the nervous 
structure, even after they have secured its digestion 
in the stomach. To introduce medicinal agents into 
the latter is an easy matter ; but to make them reach 
that wonderful and delicate organized substance, the 
brain and its nervous filaments, is another affair. 
These remarks, however, apply to cases of spring- 
halt depending on some lesion of nervous filament, 
pressure, or atrophy of the nerves of nutrition. 
Minor derangements, resulting in spasmodic action, 
may be relieved by removing the cause or the 
morbid habit which induces them. To do this, our 
treatment must be general ; th^t is, we must restore 
healthy action to the whole animal structure, and 
remove obstructions wherever they exist. 

Before alluding to the treatment, we shall intro- 
duce to the reader's attention a selection from Mr. 
Percivall's lectures, delivered some thirty-five years 
ago ; and, if the reader will compare that author's 
views with those of the surgeons of the present 
clay, he will find that they have nothing new to 
offer. 

The distinguished lecturer on veterinary science 
remarks: "We need give no description of the action 
or peculiar gait of a horse said to have springhalt : 
the greatest novice easily detects it, and seldom fails 
to make objections to purchase an animal thus 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 85 

affected. Mr. Feron, one of the few writers who 
have noticed springhalt, says, ' I am convinced, 
however, by long experience and observation, that 
springhalt, as it is called, is no disease, therefore can. 
require no remedy.' And in another place, 'Indeed, 
in Spain, France, and Germany, it is esteemed 
extremely graceful in their riding schools, or 
manege, particularly when there is a sp7^ingJtalt in 
both hind legs.' This writer has, however, admitted 
it to be a disease, to the full scope of the word, in 
the very outset of his description, by defining it to 
be 'an involuntary convulsive motion of the muscles, 
which extend or bend the hock.' In some particu- 
lars, springhalt bears some affinity to what, in 
human medicine, is called chorea. We do not 
mean, however, to assert that they are essentially ( 
the same disease ; much less do we imagine that a 
similar mode of treatment could have any good 
effect ; all we wish to infer by such an analogy is, 
that they are both spasmodic or convulsive diseases, 
in which the will has lost more or less of its control 
over certain voluntary muscles. Not unfrequently, 
when the animal has lifted his hind leg from the 
ground, which is always done with a convulsive 
twitch, the fetlock nearly approaches the belly, and, 
by some other remarkable irregularities in its action, 
before the foot can be replaced upon the ground, 
(which it seldom is in the most advantageous posi- 
tion,) displays such unnatural movements as to con- 
vince us that volition has but little power over it 
8 



86 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

during its suspension. Sometimes this irregular 
action is confined to one leg but ; we believe that it 
is more commonly seen in both. It is seldom or 
never removed. 

" Such writers as offer any opinion of its nature 
suppose it to be a muscular affection, mistaking, we 
conceive, the effect for the cause. We choose rather 
to refer its seat to the spinal marrow, or to the 
nervous trunks passing between it and the affected 
muscles ; an opinion we were first led to adopt from 
having observed a broken-backed horse exhibit all 
the characteristic signs of springhalt, which in this 
case was clearly only an accompanying symptom of 
the former disease. It was stated in the foregoing 
part of this lecture, that section or compression of 
the spinal marrow paralyzed muscles, and that 
irritation of it convulsed them. Now, we know 
that many cases of broken back terminate in palsy ; 
and, if this be true, why should not others be pro- 
ductive of springhalt — since the one arises from 
compression, while the other is merely the result of 
irritation ? It is not, however, necessary that a 
broken back be present ; for any other cause of irri- 
tation, we apprehend, would induce this disease. 
Horses are very subject to injuries of the loins — 
much more so than we seem to be aware of — from 
being suddenly stopped or turned, or from being 
overweighted about those parts ; accidents that are 
but too seldom detected, since they may not be 
severe enough to constitute broken back, though 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 87 

they may so far disturb the nervous functions as to 
cause springhalt. Should the injury, or the con- 
sequences of it, be confined to one side, then only 
one column of the matter will be affected, and but 
one leg convulsed ; the nature and extent of disease 
in it will perhaps determine the degree of spring- 
halt. 

" Such is our theory of a disease whose nature, 
we believe, has up to this time remained unexplained ; 
whether we have taken a correct view of it, experi- 
ment and special attention to these cases in future 
can alone decide. We have long had it in con- 
templation to attempt to induce springhalt by arti- 
ficial means ; and we intend, as soon as an oppor- 
tunity presents itself, to institute some experiments 
for this purpose. 

"We so seldom know anything of the origin and 
progress of these cases, and, even if we did, they 
have generally endured so long that it would be 
labor lost to treat them. Should, however, a recent 
case present itself, in a horse of value enough to 
render his recovery an object of consideration, we 
may pursue such means as have been recommended 
in the equally hopeless one of broken back." 

Regarding the Treatment. — It will be proper, 
when the attack is sudden, to let the horse rest ; 
for in a sudden attack, we might naturally suspect 
that some injury, either by blow or strain, had been 
done to the nerves of voluntary motion : in that 
case, cold water bandages (around the body), rest, 



88 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

light diet, nauseating medicines, with an occasional 
light dose of cathartic medicine, to clear out the 
bowels, will be indicated. Fomentations, light fric- 
tions with anti-spasmodic liniment, and the vapor 
bath, may assist materially in the recovery of the 
patient. 

In chronic cases of long standing, all hopes of 
recovery must be abandoned : should the subject, 
however, be in a state of debility, the general 
health may be improved, and the spine should be 
daily rubbed with embrocations calculated to re- 
store nervous energy ; in this view, we recommend 
the following embrocation for springhalt : 

Linseed oil, one pint; spirits of hartshorn, two 
ounces ; fine mustard, one-half ounce. The medi- 
cine to consist of — Powdered goldenseal, powdered 
gentian, cream of tartar, and charcoal, each one 
ounce ; assafoetida, one-half ounce. Mix, and divide 
into eight parts, one to be given morning and even- 
ing, in the food. 



FALLING OFF OF THE HAIR. 

There are various forms of eruptive diseases 
which induce a falling off of the hair ; and these 
external eruptions which appear on the skin are not 
always the disease, the real enemy to be overcome, 
but are oftentimes the manifestations — products or 
symptoms — of some internal affection. So soon as 
the eruptive disease extends to the hair bulb, a sort 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 89 

of morbid action commences within them, which 
loosens the hair, and it falls off. 

At times we find small vesicles which are elevated 
above the skin, often in very considerable numbers ; 
they pour out on the skin a fluid, which, by the process 
of evaporation, forms crusts ; these crusts are some- 
times converted into minute ulcers, which deepen 
until they destroy the roots of the hair. They 
generally produce intolerable itching, which obliges 
the animal constantly to rub himself, and thus 
destroy the hair. The eruption sometimes occupies 
a single spot, which soon extends so as to cover a 
large space ; sometimes it appears on the tail, at 
others on the neck and on the flanks, whence it 
gradually extends. This form of eruption is called 
humid exanthema. There is another form, known 
as dry exanthema, which appears in the form of 
small pimples ; they soon scale off, and the place 
they occupied is covered with a farinaceous powder. 
The animal seems to suffer the most excruciating 
torment, and is constantly rubbing himself. The 
best local remedy for either case is, — 

Pulverized charcoal, one ounce ; olive oil, one 
pint ; pyroligneous acid, five ounces ; common salt, 
one ounce. Mix, and lubricate the parts daily with 
a sponge. 

The internal treatment should always commence, 
with small doses of sulphur, sassafras, and bayberry 
bark, given occasionally in the food. 
8* 



90 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 



RINGWORM. 



King worm presents itself in the horse in the form 
of circular, and sometimes irregular, patches de- 
nuded of hair, having on their surfaces a morbid 
secretion, and incrustations of the same. It gene- 
rally locates on the sides of the neck, and occasion- 
ally on other parts. The skin of the animal pre- 
sents a few round and raw-looking spots completely 
denuded of hair ; they are present on both sides of 
the neck, and also upon the skin of the left cheek. 
Upon the skin on both sides of the neck, upon the 
superior part of both shoulders, upon the back, in 
the region of lumbar vertebra?, and particularly 
upon the hind quarters, are a number of peculiar- 
looking spots or patches, each of about the size of 
a shilling. The appearance which these patches 
present is somewhat as follows : Some of them are 
round, while others are of an irregular form. The 
hair in connection with them is of a dirty gray color, 
and it appears as though a portion of fine dust had 
been placed upon it, and then a gummy fluid had 
dropped amongst the whole, and, being allowed to 
dry, had become incrusted. If the forefinger is 
placed firmly upon any one of these patches, and at 
the same time forced forward, the incrusted mass 
slides, as it were, away from its matrix, and a raw 
surface is exposed to view, in which, if examined with 
a common magnifying lens, a number of pits or 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 91 

cavities are observed, some of which are filled with 
purulent matter ; while running, as it were, around 
these cavities, is a red continuous line of variable 
thickness. The incrustations were found to consist 
of the hair agglutinated together, from the presence 
of a gummy substance excreted from the diseased 
part beneath. 

Treatment. — Wash the parts with a strong infu- 
sion of bayberry bark, wipe dry, and then smear 
the denuded spots with a mixture of four ounces of 
pyroligneous acid, and one ounce of turpentine. 
Ths washing and dressing to be repeated until 
healthy action is established. If the disease does 
not readily disappear, give equal parts of sulphur, 
cream of tartar, and sassafras, in doses of six 
drachms daily. If the disease still lingers, sponge 
the denuded parts with tincture of muriate of iron. 



GLANDERS. 

Many valuable horses have been sacrificed by 
ignorant persons, being pronounced glandered sim- 
ply because they have a discharge from the nostrils, 
accompanied by enlargement of the maxillary glands. 
In glanders, it is the lymphatic, sub-maxillary glands 
that are affected. 

Mr. R. Yines, V. S.,says: "All the symptoms of 
disease which constitute glanders and farcy invaria- 
bly depend on the unhealthy state of the system into 



92 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

which it is reduced or brought, and not, as is sup- 
posed, from a specific poison contained in the blood; 
and these symptoms of disease are found to depend 
on and arise from a variety of causes ; whether they 
occur at the latter states or stages of common in- 
flammatory diseases, such as strangles, common cold, 
distemper, disease of the lungs, dropsy, &c, or 
whether they arise independently of such causes ; 
for when the system is brought into an unhealthy 
state, and is more or less debilitated from neglect, 
or by the improper treatment of any of these 
diseases, farcy or glanders is the result. The dis- 
eases of every animal will, therefore, assume a cha- 
racter according to the state of the system." 

Mr. Percivall, V. S., says: "The state of the 
body, or constitution, will always have considerable 
influence on the character and tendency of disease. 
In horses whose bodies are and long have been in an 
unthriving and unhealthy condition, a common 
swollen leg will occasionally run into farcy,' and a 
common cold or strangles, or an attack of influenza, 
be followed by glanders. In other cases, such un- 
fortunate sequels supervene without any ostensible 
or discoverable cause." 

Treatment. — Inject the nasaLpassages daily with 
pyroligneous acid. Let the diet consist of equal 
parts of wheaten flour and oatmeal ; the drink of 
water adulterated with elixir of vitriol, eighty drops 
to the bucket. The medicine must possess the fol- 
lowing properties : 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 93 

1. Antiseptic. — To preserve the system from pu- 
trescence. The principal one is pyroligneous acid ; 
dose, one ounce twice a day, in a pint of sage tea. 

2. Alterative. — To change morbid action. The 
following is an example : — Take of phosphate of 
lime, one ounce ; powdered sarsaparilla and pow- 
dered sassafras, each five ounces ; powdered assa- 
toeticla, one ounce. Mix, and divide into twenty- 
four powders, one to be given, night and morning, 
in thin gruel. 

3. Stimulant. — To arouse vital action, the chief 
are capsicum and ginger. The following prepara- 
tion has been used with considerable success: — 
Iodine (reduced to powder), four scruples; proof 
spirit, four ounces ; tincture of capsicum, or ginger, 
six ounces. Dose, one ounce twice a day, in thin 
gruel. 

Occasionally a drench should be used of brandy 
and salt, — three ounces of brandy to one ounce of 
salt. 



RATS TAIL. 

Rat's tail is a name given to a narrow streak of 
denuded hair which occasionally appears on the 
upper part of a horse's tail. It generally arises 
from a sort of exanthema, or cutaneous eruption, 
causing an intolerable itching ; the horse is con- 
stantly rubbing the part against the side of his 
stall, and thus the pilous covering is worn off. 



94 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

The remedy is — Spirits of turpentine, pyroligneous 
acid, and linseed oil, in equal parts. Wash the 
parts daily, and dress with the mixture. 



MALANDEES AND SALANDERS. 

The above terms are usually applied to scurfy 
eruptions, accompanied with oozing crusts and 
cracks in the skin, situated either in front of the 
hock or at the posterior part of the knee joint. 
They probably produce some sort of an itching sen- 
sation ; occasional pain, and even lameness, have 
been known to arise from them. 

The disease is said to arise from long traveling 
on bad roads, want of cleanliness, &c; but proba- 
bly it originates from that peculiar state of the sys- 
tem which favors the production of cutaneous dis- 
eases. The disease does not prevail to any great 
extent in the United States. 

The term malanders is applied to the disease 
when the fore legs are affected, and salanders when 
it is located in the hind ones. As both are sup- 
posed to proceed from the same cause, the local 
treatment consists in washing the parts twice a day 
with an alkaline wash — lime water or saleratus ; 
and after the part or parts are wiped dry, the fol- 
lowing application must be used : Beefs gall and 
spirits of turpentine, equal parts of each. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 95 



WINDGALLS. 

The bursal capsules located just above the fet- 
lock, as well as in the vicinity of the hock, secrete 
a synovial fluid, corresponding to what some per- 
sons term "joint oil" the use of which is to facili- 
tate motion. In cases of this character, either the 
walls of the capsule are hypertrophied — augmented 
in bulk — ©r the synovial secretion is inordinate, or 
else its flow is obstructed. Counter irritation, 
bandage, friction, and regular exercise, are the best 
remedies, and yet they often fail to remove the eye- 
sore. 



SPLENT. 



A splent seldom occasions lameness, except in 
the primary stage of inflammation of the fibro-car- 
tilaginous substance which unites the splent to the 
canon bone ; or, in cases when the splent is high 
up, in close proximity with the carpal bone — which 
rests on the upper part of the inner small meta- 
carpal — splent sometimes involving more than one 
of the carpal bones ; and from the size of the 
tumor, it being large, having a very rough surface. 
In such cases we may expect lameness ; but it sel- 
dom lasts long, for the bones soon become anchy- 
losed, that is, glued together ; and should the tumor 
be rough, so as to produce lameness, there will soon 
be thrown out on its contiguous tissues a fibrous 



96 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

layer, which to some extent prevents friction. This 
form of splent, having eminences, depressions, and 
a rough, irregular aspect, may be denominated 
tubercnlated splent : it generally interferes with the 
motion of neighboring parts. A splent of the cir- 
cumscribed kind — a tumor about midway between 
the superior and inferior ends of the canon, on the 
inside — generally differs from the above, in present- 
ing a smooth eminence, with a well-defined outline, 
varying in size from that of a bean up to a walnut. 
Cause of Splent. — A good deal of speculation 
is afloat as to the cause of splent. We are aware 
that it may be praduced by a blow, or injury in the 
form of sprain. If it come from a blow, we should 
be apt to consider that the animal himself was the 
cause of it, by striking with the opposite foot ; 
although he generally strikes the fetlock, or else 
the inside of the knee ; but he may once in a while 
have an ill-adapted shoe placed on his foot, and 
then, in consequence of being reined up suddenly, 
or getting one foot into a hole, may, without the 
knowledge of the person riding or driving, inflict a 
slight blow on the inside of the limb, which may 
prove, in a predisposed subject, the exciting cause 
of this affection. Predisposition may lurk in breed ; 
and from the fact that many animals are now to be 
met with carrying about with them miniatures of 
ancestral deformity, sjiavin, ringbone, &c, we may 
presume that splent, at times, comes under this 
category. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 9f 

Treatment. — In the early stages, supposing some 
inflammatory symptoms present, we resort to cool- 
ing, evaporating lotions. These are various. The 
following will probably answer the purpose. It 
has been used extensively and found efficient : 

Take of acetic acid, two ounces ; water, eight 
ounces ; and chloric ether, one ounce. Mix ; take 
a pad composed of three or four folds of cotton 
cloth, immerse it in the mixture, place it over the 
seat of splent, and then confine it, so as to produce 
a slight pressure on the tumor, the outer bandage to 
be moistened as often as convenient. Rest at this 
stage is highly important, because the periosteum, 
or else the interosseous fibro -cartilage between the 
splent and canon, is inflamed, and all motion aggra- 
vates it. 

In a case of long standing, and even in one having 
a well-marked tumor, stiffness and lameness may be 
relieved by the occasional application of acetate of 
cantharides. 

Some surgeons blister for the cure of splent; 
others saw off the tumor ; and periosteotomy has 
been resorted to in view of cure ; but, unfortunately, 
splent is no more curable than spavin, when once 
the cartilage is converted into bone ; and as in the 
majority of cases it is but an eyesore, and detracts 
but little from the value, and still less on the score 
of usefulness, of the horse, it may be well to pause 
ere we operate for the cure of an incurable disease. 
9 



98 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

CURB. 

A curb is an enlargement which makes its appear- 
ance on the hind legs, about two inches below the 
hock. It is sometimes occasioned by a blow ; but 
the most frequent cause is strain of the sheath 
through which the flexor tendons pass. If seen in 
its early stage it would, in all probability, yield to 
rest and cold water bandages. But if neglected until 
effusion takes place, or the surrounding tissues become 
injected and thickened, and the horse becomes lame, 
then a different course of treatment must be adopted. 

Take of acetic acid, four ounces ; powdered 
bloodroot, one ounce ; turpentine, one ounce. To 
be applied to the part night and morning for at 
least a week; afterwards to be bathed daily with 
common vinegar. 

There are cases, however, in which coagulable 
lymph will form, and may thus leave the parts in a 
state of callosity for some time, which only patience, 
constant friction, or the application of some stimu- 
lant can overcome. Among the many applications 
in use the following is preferable : 

Take of oil of cedar, oil of sassafras, oil of mar- 
joram, one ounce each ; soft soap, one pint. To be 
used daily, always rubbing in a downward direction. 

As regards exercise, the inflammatory stage 
requires rest; and in the chronic form, exercise 
will be indicated, provided, however, the horse be 
not lame. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 99 

MANAGEMENT OF DISEASED AND DEFECTIVE HORSES. 

Young Horses are not at full strength till they 
are nearly five years old. At fast work they re- 
quire careful shoeing to prevent cutting, careful 
stable-management to prevent the evil arising from 
changes of temperature, to which they are more 
liable than mature -horses. They are not fit for full 
work, but they require good feeding for what they do. 

Old Horses, those above ten or twelve, are rarely 
fit for long stages. They are soon exhausted. They 
need full feeding ; and some, having bad teeth, need 
to have much of their food broken or cooked. 

Defective Fore Legs last longest in harness and 
in the lead ; but when the horse is apt to fall, when 
he is a notorious stumbler, he is better in the wheel. 
The other horse helps to keep him on his feet. 

Boarers do most work when their work is slow. 
Some cannot go above five miles an hour : and many 
cannot go more than four miles, when the pace is 
near eight per hour. Some do better on one side 
of a coach than on another. The head should not 
be confined by the bearing-rein, and the throat-lash 
should be loose. Time should be given in up-hill 
work, otherwise the roarer may choke and fall. He 
should work with little food in the belly ; the first 
mile is sometimes the worst for him ; a slower pace 
for the next half mile enables him to finish the 
remainder with less distress than when he is pushed 
from the start. 



100 THE AMERICAN EARRIER 

Chronic Cough, that is, a settled cough, is very 
common among fast-workers. It is most frequent 
when the horse is taken from the stable, when he 
returns to it, and after drinking and feeding. There 
is no cure. Occasionally a mild dose of physic ; 
and after severe work, or much exposure in bad 
weather, cordial balls soften and mitigate the cough. 
Many horses have it for years without any apparent 
evil, but it often produces broken wind. Carrots 
and boiled barley are good. The work should be 
regular. 

Broken-winded horses require regular work, reg- 
ular feeding, and a rich concentrated diet, consisting 
of oats, beans and barley in large measure, with a 
limited allowance of fodder. Wheat straw seems 
better than hay for these horses. From six to eight 
pounds is sufficient, if the work be fast ; when slow, 
there is less need for restriction ; carrots and boiled 
barley, one or both, may be of use. Bad food seems 
more injurious to broken-winded than to healthy 
horses. They drink much water, and before work 
they should not have so much as they would take. 
At night no restriction is necessary. Broken-winded 
horses are rarely fit for more than an eight-mile 
stage, to which they need an hour. But there are 
various degrees of the disease, some being much 
worse than others. 

Crib-biters are horses who swallow air by a 
peculiar effort. They seize the manger or any other 
fixture with the fore teeth, arch the neck, and gulp 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 101 

over a quantity of air, making, at the same time, a 
grunting kind of noise. Horses often learn this 
from others : they should stand alone. 

When the crib-biter swallows so much air as to 
enlarge his belly, to incommode his breathing, make 
him liable to frequent attacks of colic, or keep him 
lean, a broad strap may be put on the throat, tight 
enough to prevent dilatation of the gullet, yet not 
to stop the return of blood from the head. 

There is a kind of muzzle sometimes used for the 
purpose of preventing crib-biting among valuable 
horses. Its most essential part is a kind of rack, 
consisting of two iron spars jointed at each ex- 
tremity, and curved to receive the muzzle. The 
spars are about three-fourths of an inch broad ; the 
space between them is wide enough to receive the 
lips, and let them seize the grain and hay, but so 
narrow that it will not admit the teeth. The horse 
can eat well enough ; he can reach his food with the 
lips, but he can seize nothing with his fore teeth. 
This muzzle is better than a strap, which disposes 
the horse to swelling of the head, and is blamed for 
producing roaring. 

Wind-sucking consists in swallowing air without 
applying the teeth to any fixture. The horse 
presses his lips against the edge of the manger, 
having his neck and back arched, and his feet all 
gathered together. This habit does not seem to 
be so often injurious as crib-biting. It is said that 
a muzzle, having three or four sharp spikes at the 



102 THE AMERICAN FARMER 

bottom, will prevent it. The points run into the 
lips when the horse attempts to place them in posi* 
tion for sucking or swallowing air. 

Megrims (or Epilepsy). — Some horses are liable 
to giddiness at work. It is not the same as choking 
or swooning in the collar. It seems to be a kind of 
apoplexy. The horse drops without the least warn- 
ing, lies for a few seconds insensible, and then rises 
somewhat confused. After two or three attacks the 
horse is sure to have more. Saddle-horses are not 
exempt. These horses should be kept at slow work 
in double harness. Their work and feeding should 
be always the same. Excess or deficiency of what 
they are accustomed to renders the attacks more 
frequent. Physic may be given thrice a year or 
oftener. The food should never be constipating. 
The bearing-rein should always be free. If the 
horse be observed to stagger, he should be pulled 
up, and allowed to stand two or three minutes. 
When he falls he requires nothing but time to 
recover his senses. 

Blind Horses should not be placed within reach 
of a mischievous neighbor. They cannot defend 
themselves nor get out of the way. In harness the 
wheel suits them better than the lead. When only 
one eye is lost, the horse should work on the side 
from which he sees. 

Glandered Horses often work for years after they 
are incurably diseased. They require to be well 
fed, well lodged, and well groomed. So far as my 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 103 

experience has gone, medicine of all kinds is entirely 
thrown away upon them. 

When the disease appears in a sound stud, the 
horse should be destroyed, or at least removed with- 
out delay. It is possible he may recover ; and, if 
he can be kept where he can do no harm, he may 
have a trial. If permitted to remain, he is just as 
likely to give the disease to every horse in the 
stable as to get better himself. It is generally sup- 
posed that glanders cannot be communicated without 
actual application of the matter. This is not cer- 
tain. I am pretty sure that, in some forms, it will 
spread through the air. It is prudent to suspect 
and watch every horse that has breathed under the 
same roof with a glandered one. 

When several are diseased, it may be worth while 
keeping them. They may be all put to one road, 
and kept in stables apart from the others ; having 
men, harness, pole, and pole chains entirely to them- 
selves. When it can be managed, they should not 
even enter the stable-yard where there are sound 
horses, and the men should be carefully excluded 
from every stable but their own. 

When the horses die off, so that sufficient are not 
left to do the work, their place may be supplied by 
others, sound, but of little value. In this way, 
however, the disease is kept up. It is better to 
destroy the few that remain. Let the stalls, every 
portion of the stables, from floor to roof, both in- 
clusive, be well washed with soap or sand and water. 



104 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

Let the wood- work be scraped or planed, and ragged 
portions chipped quite out. If the mangers and 
racks be of wood and much wasted, remove them 
altogether, and replace them by others of iron. 
After washing, give all the stone or brick a coat of 
hot lime-water. Till all this is well and completely 
done, no sound horse should enter the stable ; and 
even after it is done, the stable should stand empty 
for a week or two. 

Sickness. — This word is usually applied to all 
dangerous or febrile diseases, all in which the horse 
is dull, pained, and without appetite. The stable- 
management of these must vary according to the 
nature of the illness. Directions are given by the 
medical attendant as to diet, drink, ventilation, 
clothing, exercise, and other matters likely to exert 
any influence upon the disease. In general, bran- 
mashes, carrots, green food, and hay form the sick 
horse's diet ; gruel or tepid water, his drink. What- 
ever the surgeon's orders, they should be strictly 
obeyed. In many cases a handful of oats or a 
bucket of cold water may keep the horse a week 
longer from work, or even kill him. 

Bleeding. — After a horse has been bled from the 
neck, let his head be tied up for at least three hours ; 
and if there be no objection, it had better be tied 
up all night. Never tie it higher than the manger. 
If the horse happen to faint, as some do after a 
bleeding, he may be choked. The head is tied high 
enough when the horse cannot get it lower than the 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 105 

bottom of the manger. Never remove the pin and 
tow by which the vein is secured. They will fall 
away in a few days ; but though they should remain 
# for eight or ten, they will do no harm. If removed 
too soon the vein is apt to inflame. It is best to let 
them remain. 

Fomenting. — In fomenting for lameness or an 
external injury, the groom rarely has enough of 
water, and he does not continue the bathing long 
enough to do any good. If the leg is to be 
fomented, get a pailful of water as hot as the hand 
can bear it ; put the horse's foot into it, and with a 
large sponge lave the water as high up as the 
shoulder, and keep it constantly running down the 
whole limb. Foment for about half-an-hour, and 
keep the water hot by adding more. If a poultice 
or wet bandage is to succeed the fomentation, apply 
it immediately, before the leg has time to cool. 

Poulticing. — Warm poultices are usually com- 
posed of bran-mash, to which it is proper to add 
turnips, linseed-meal, or oatmeal porridge; either 
will do, and one of them is necessary, for bran alone 
does not retain heat and moisture sufficiently. 

Whether applied for sores, bruises, or sprains, the 
poultice should be large, moist, and as warm as 
possible and convenient. It is- almost invariably 
too small ; it should cover a good deal more than 
the part injured. It should have as much water as 
it will hold, and more should be applied every 
second or third hour, either by pouring it on the 



106 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

poultice or by dipping or soaking it. Care must 
be taken that no part of the cords or bandages be 
too tight. They should admit the finger quite 
easily after they are all adjusted. When properly 
applied and properly attended, a good poultice need 
not be changed in less than twenty-four hours. 
When the horse tears it off with his teeth, he must 
be tied up ; when he paws or throws it off, he must 
be shackled. 

When too small, a poultice does little good; 
when too dry, it confines heat, and increases in- 
flammation ; when the strings are too tight, they 
stop the circulation of blood, cut the skin, and swell 
the leg. 

Blistering. — Blistering plasters are never applied 
to horses. We always use an ointment, of which 
rather more than a half is well rubbed into the part 
to be blistered, while the remainder is thinly and 
equally spread over the part that has been rubbed. 
When there is any danger of the ointment running 
and acting upon places that should not be blistered, 
they must be covered with a stiff ointment made of 
hog's lard and beeswax. 

The bedding is to be removed when the leg is 
blistered. To prevent the horse from slipping upon 
the stones, they may be covered with a little short 
litter, sawdust, or bark. 

The horse's head must be secured in such a way 
that he cannot reach the blister with his teeth. Put 
him into a narrow stall, and tig his head firmly to 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 10T 

the rack. When a hind-leg is blistered, fasten a 
small bundle of straw to each heel-post; place it 
high up, opposite the haunch. It keeps the legs 
off the posts, against which the horse is very apt to 
rub them. 

When the blister has become quite dry, the head 
may in general be freed, and the horse let down. 
But sometimes it remains itchy after it is dry, and 
the horse rubs it: In that case he must be tied up 
again. If he get very tired, and threaten to go 
down on his haunches, put the beads on his neck, 
let go the head, give a good bed, and let the horse 
rest all day, a man watching him if the beads are 
not sufficient to keep away the teeth. At night he 
may again be tied up, if there be any fear of his 
rubbing the blister. . 

When the blister is quite dry, put some sweet oil 
on it, and repeat it every second day. Without 
orders from the veterinarian, the blister is not to be 
washed off, either soon or late. Give it plenty of 
oil and time, and it will fall off as the new hair 
grows. By washing, the raw skin is often exposed, 
the hair torn out, and the horse is blemished. 



VERTIGO. 

Horses are, now and then, attacked with a sort 
of giddiness, which is apt to come on while going 
fast ; the animal all at once commences shaking his 



108 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

his head, staggers, reels, and stops short ; if per- 
mitted to rest awhile, he recovers, and travels on as 
if nothing had happened. 

The vertiginous symptoms are very apt to return; 
therefore a horse having once had an attack, must 
be managed with caution ; he is certainly unsafe for 
either saddle or chaise ; but with due care in regard 
to stable management and work, he might be used 
with some degree of safety in a four-wheeled vehi- 
cle, for, if he then should fall, the occupants might 
escape without injury ; otherwise they would not. 
The disease is generally supposed to be connected 
with some pathological state of the brain or ner- 
vous system, and must therefore be considered in- 
curable so long as that organ or system remains in 
a pathological condition. 

The treatment of vertigo, or megrims, as it is 
sometimes called, does not reflect much credit on 
us, neither is it at all times satisfactory to our em- 
ployers ; for so soon as the horse returns to work, 
the same causes which produced a previous attack 
are again in operation, and soon produce a subse- 
quent one. Our first object is to act on the digest- 
ive surface by means of a full dose of physic. Some 
mustard, moistened with vinegar, should be rubbed 
along the neck, on each side, near the head. Some 
practitioners recommend setons through the tem- 
ples, or along the nape of the neck ; others blister 
the head. Bloodletting is generally resorted to for 
most diseases of the brain ; with what success the 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 109 

reader may learn by consulting the text books. The 
practice, however, lacks the sanction of the new 
school and our own humble advocacy. We have 
seen some benefit derived from the daily use of an 
antispasmodic draught, composed of powdered gum 
asafcetida, one drachm ; sweet spirits of nitre, two 
drachms ; thin gruel, one pint. To be given so 
soon as the bowels have responded to the purge, and 
to be continued until the patient appears better. 

This treatment we have found efficient to prevent 
a re-attack for a longer or shorter time, depending, 
however, on the manner in which it is kept and used. 
Good grooming, light diet, clean stables well venti- 
lated, and light work, are among the best means for 
warding off an attack of this, which is generally 
considered an incurable disease. 

"By vertigo is meant a chronic disease of the 
horse, chiefly indicated by a disturbance of the 
sensitive faculties, oocasioning derangement in the 
ordinary functions of life. Much that is incorrect 
has been written regarding the seat, properly so 
called, of the evil ; at present, most veterinary sur- 
geons are agreed in seeking the proximate cause, 
not as formerly, in the brain, but in the abdominal 
organs, and in considering the cerebral affection as 
purely secondary. The vertigo often succeeds acute 
encephalitis, the intensity of which has diminished 
to a certain degree ; but very frequently, also, it 
comes on without having been preceded by inflam- 
mation of the brain. It recognizes the same causes 
10 



110 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

as the latter, isolation, confinement in hot and badly 
aired stables, cold, extreme fatigue, blows and in- 
juries on the head, indigestion, unwholesome or too 
much food in proportion to the exercise taken. The 
fear of punishment, especially of the whip, occa- 
sionally gives rise to it in sensitive and irritable 
animals. Some horses have an hereditary predis- 
position to it, and mares are considered more sub- 
ject to it than stallions. Further, it is scarcely ever 
observed except in hot weather, and as it is gene- 
rally at the beginning of summer that it commences 
to appear, it goes away always in autumn, at least 
with respect to its chief symptoms. These are the 
following : the horse, a little before lively and active, 
begins, all of a sudden, to appear heavy and indo- 
lent ; he is dejected, and prefers to keep himself in 
the darkest corner of the stable, eyes dull, look fixed 
and stupid, eyelids half shut, inattention to every 
thing, forgetting even himself, and, as it were, asleep, 
and head hanging to the ground, and resting on the 
manger or on the rack. His gait is heavy, slow, 
and unsteady ; he raises the feet very high, and puts 
the entire sole to the ground, raising and letting 
down the limbs in a manner purely mechanical, and, 
as it were, unconsciously. He exhibits much awk- 
wardness in turning, and cannot be pulled back 
except by depressing the head very much, and push- 
ing it laterally. Generally, also, he leans on one 
side in walking. To maintain his equilibrium the 
better, he places the fore legs beneath the belly, and 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. Ill 

moves his ears in a peculiar manner, and backwards. 
According as the disease progresses, he becomes 
less and less sensible to external impressions; mas- 
tication is performed slowly ; he takes from time to 
time a mouthful of food, masticates it, swallows a 
portion of it, but keeps the remainder in his mouth. 
He prefers taking his food off the ground rather 
than in any other way, and when drinking, he 
plunges his head into the water, even above his 
nostrils. During and after some rather violent 
movement, his symptoms become much aggravated, 
and the signs of complete insensibility become more 
and more marked. The animal runs on quite blind 
till some obstacle stops him, or turns round, or remains 
tranquil, when, with his head depressed, and the 
legs crowded beneath the body, without being able 
to change this unusual attitude unless assisted to do 
so. There is never any fever ; the pulse is often 
from ten to twelve pulsations slower than in the 
normal state. 

" In the same way, also, the respiration is con- 
stantly slow, deep, and frequently of a sighing char- 
acter. In almost all cases the tongue is foul, and 
the mouth dry and clammy. With respect to treat- 
ment, the remedies which have succeeded best with 
me are camomile (some doses), then sulphur, and 
nux vomica. In a peculiar case, where, indepen- 
dently of the symptoms peculiar to vertigo, the con- 
junctiva, tongue and mouth were more yellow, the 
horse frequently flexed his fore legs, seldom lay 



112 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

down, fgeces hard, and passed but little urine. I 
obtained benefit from the use of nux vomica, with 
sulphur as consecutive treatment. Others used Pul- 
satilla in general : however, they also obtaiued good 
effects from veratum album in many cases ; nux 
vomica was employed with the horse inclined -to 
the left, and arnica when he leaned to the right. 
Several horses have been cured by means of bella- 
donna : and one, which was considered as lost, was 
saved by giving him belladonna, hyoscyamus and 
nux vomica. The utility of digitalis and opium has 
been verified in slight cases of vertigo, in which 
cases benefit has been derived from arnica. On one 
occasion, veratrum album was prescribed during four 
days, twice a day, and then stramonium, employed 
in the same manner ; on the fifth day the animal was 
cured. It is always advisable to have recourse to 
sulphur as consecutive treatment." — Veterinary 
Homoeopathy, p. 12?. 



JAUNDICE. 

Definition. — A yellow discoloration of the tissues, 
caused by an interrupted excretion of bile. 

On making a post mortem examination of animals 
having been the subjects of this disease, we find the 
yellow tinge prevading every part of the organiza- 
tion. It is diffused through the whole of the muscu- 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 113 

lar, fatty, cartilagenous, cellular, bony structures, and 
has also been detected in the brain. 

Mr. Percivall considers "jaundice to be an uti- 
frequent disease among horses ; and one reason 
appears self-evident, as soon as we are put in poses- 
sion of a knowledge of the causes from which it may 
proceed. I mentioned swelling or compression of 
the hepatic duct as one, in speaking of it as a 
sympton of hepatitis ; and probably this is the most 
common one. In the human subject, it frequently 
arises from obstruction of the ducts, either from 
collected or concreted bile in them, to which the 
name of biliary calculi is given ; or it may be the 
effect of spasm in the ducts, or in any part of the 
duodenum where they terminate ; but I am not aware 
that cases of this kind have occurred in veterinary 
practice ; and one reason I repeat, is obvious. The 
horse has but a single duct, through which the bile 
flows as fast as it is secreted ; it has no retrogade 
course to take, no receptacle to collect in and to 
concrete into gall stones ; and, as a proof that this 
is one reason, dogs, and such other domestic quad- 
rupeds as have gall bladders, are all of them much 
oftener jaundiced than horses. People who lead 
sedentary lives, such as corpulent subjects and women, 
are predisposed to jaundice ; in them the bile often 
grows inspissated in its ducts, and biliary calculi 
are now and then detected in the stools : this is a 
cause of disorder, as I have said before, that we 
can but rarely adduce in veterinary practice. 
10* 



114 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

" Jaundice, produced from whatever cause it may- 
be, consists in the absorption of unchanged bile into 
the circulation, which bile becomes diffused and con- 
veyed to every part, giving rise to those appearances 
that are so remarkably characteristic of its presence. 
It does not appear to originate either in defective 
or altered secretion ; for had not the liver done its 
office, how could we explain the appearance of bile 
in the system at all ? 

" The yellow aspect that jaundice gives to the skin, 
the mouth, and the eyes, at once betrays its presence. 
The skin is every where dyed yellow, though the 
change is only visible to us in places bare of hair. 
The membrane of the mouth puts on the same ap- 
pearance. The conjunctiva (the membrane lining 
the eyelids) has a yellowish pink hue, the cornea is 
obscured, a yellow sediment may often be perceived 
floating in the anterior chamber, and the iris itself 
is tinged in places with this yellow dye. The bowels 
are costive ; the excrement that is voided is hard, 
buttony, and dark-colored, besmeared often with a 
yellow, slimy matter, like bile diffused in mucus, and 
consists of dryish masses of ill-digested aliment. 
The urine is a deep-yellow or orange color, and is 
sparing in quantity. In the human subject, the 
absorption of bile into the system often generates 
considerable disorder, operates, in fact, like so much 
poisonous matter, exciting an itching sensation of 
the skin, and depressing the strength an<^ spirits of 
the patient j and the latter of these effects is often 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 115 

very remarkable in jaundiced horses. The eyelids 
are drooping or closed ; the head hangs down ; there 
is evident sinking both of strength and spirits ; and 
often there is a degree of moping stupor present, 
which at times, borders on vertigo, so that the 
animal walks unsteadily, or reels as he moves ; his 
pulse is about 60 or 65 ; his respiration is unaffected, 
and his flank untucked up. 

" In the treatment of jaundice, our sheet anchor 
is purging. No time should be lost in exhibiting 
ten or twelve drachms of aloes ; and, if we can 
insure the administration of it, the decoction is pre- 
ferable to a bolus. If there was much stupor or 
vertigo present, I would bleed, but not largely. I 
would follow up the first dose of aloes with half an 
ounce in solution every twelve hours until purgation 
came on ; we need be under no apprehensions of 
super-purgation in these cases. As soon as the 
bowels are freely opened, apply a blister to the right 
side, and repeat it every twelve hours. It may be 
necessary to recur to the venesection. 

'•Now and then jaundice terminates fatally, and 
when it does so, the event is commonly sudden ; 
probably some time has elapsed before we are called 
in ; the bowels resist our first dose of medicine ; in 
the meantime the pulse rises in spite of our recur- 
rence to the use of the lancet ; the skin and extreme 
parts become cold ; the animal grows senseless, and 
perhaps vertiginous, and in that state suddenly drops 
and expires. On dis'section, the liver is found glutted 



116 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

with bile. I found the gland so prodigiously dis- 
tended in one case that the right lobe of it had 
burst, and displayed a considerable fissure. 

Now and then we hear of cases of the rupture of 
the liver. I have never been present but at the one 
mentioned above, myself, but I am told that large, 
heavy, draught horses are more particularly liable 
to the accident, and that it happens in the violent 
efforts they are compelled to make in drawing heavy 
loads." 

Should the bowels be freely opened, we think that 
both blister and venesection might be dispensed with, 
for human practitioners have found it advisable, in 
treating disease of this character, to dispense with 
both. 



MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS USED IN THE VETERINARY 
PRACTICE. 

Compound for Wounds, Saddlegalls, &c. — Pul- 
verized aloes, eight ounces ; pulverized myrrh, 
four ounces ; pulverized catechu, four ounces ; pul- 
verized benzoin, four ounces ; new rum, one gallon. 
Let the mixture stand for two or three weeks, 
frequently shaking it, and filter through fine linen. 

Styptic. — {To arrest Hemorrhage.) — Powdered 
gum benzoin, powdered sulphate of potassa, pow- 
dered alum, of each one-half pound ; water, five 
pints. Mix, and boil in a glazed vessel, for five 
hours, stirring constantly, and add .fresh quantities 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 11T 

of boiling water to supply the loss which is con- 
stantly taking place by evaporation. The mixture 
possesses the property of coagulating blood. 

Another. — Tincture of mastic. 

Another. — Tincture of muriate of iron. 



Physic Ball. — Powdered aloes, six drachms; 
powdered gentian, one and a half drachms ; oil of 
peppermint, five drops ; soft soap, sufficient to form 
a bolus. A lit'tle honey, or mucilage, will also 
render the mass tenacious enough to administer. 



Physio Drench. — (Cathartic medicine.) — Pul- 
verized aloes, six drachms ; syrup of buckthorn one 
ounce ; tincture of ginger one ounce. 



Laxative Ball. — Powdered aloes, three drachms ; 
powdered sulphur, one ounce ; mandrake, two 
drachms. To be formed into a bolus, with honey 
or mucilage. 

Another. — Powdered aloes, three drachms ; pow- 
dered mandrake, two drachms; soap, four drachms. 



Groton Purge. — Pulverised croton seed and farina 
are frequently used as purgatives by the profession ; 
the former in doses varying from fifteen to thirty 
grains, and the latter from twenty-five to forty-five 
grains. 



118 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

Alterative Drench — ( To change morbid action.) 
Sulphur, one ounce ; powdered mandrake, two 
drachms ; thin gruel, one pint. 



Antispasmodic Drench. — (For spasmodic action, 
either nervous or muscular.) — Tincture of asafce- 
tida, one ounce ; tincture of valerian, one ounce ; 
syrup of garlic, three ounces ; gruel, one pint. 

Another. — (For spasmodic cough.) — Balsam co- 
paiba, half ounce ; sweet spirits • of nitre, three 
drachms ; sulphuric ether, half a drachm ; tincture 
of musk, half ounce. Half the above quantity to 
be given, night and morning, in gruel. 



Tonic Drench. — (For iceakness and debility.) — 
Port wine, three ounces ; Tincture of cinnamon, 
half ounce ; powdered goldenseal, four drachms. 
To be given in thin gruel. Should the bowels be 
torpid, omit the port wine, and substitute one and 
a half ounce of pale brandy. 



Diuretic Drench. — Fir balsam, half ounce ; sweet 
spirits of nitre, two drachms ; tincture of asafcetida, 
one ounce. To be given in a thin mucilage of 
slippery elm. 



Nauseant and Diaphoretic Drench. — (To in- 
crease the function of cutaneous exhalants in fe- 
brile diseases.) — Powdered lobelia, two drachms ; 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 119 

powdered bloodroot, one drachm. To be given in 
warm water, and repeated at given intervals. 



Stimulating Drench. — Tincture of capsicum, half 
ounce ; tincture of ginger, half ounce ; tincture of 
cinnnamon, half ounce. To be given in gruel. 



Narcotic Drench. — (To relieve pain and induce 
sleep.) — Tincture of Indian hemp, three drachms ; 
chloroform, half a drachm. To be given in warm 
water. An infusion of poppies, or hops, is a good 
anodyne. 

Sedative Drench. — {To lessen arterial action. ) — 
Tincture of arnica, four drachms ; water, one pint ; 
To be repeated, gradually lessening the dose. 



Cooling and Refrigerating Drench — (For 
fevers or thirst.) — Cream of tartar, half ounce. 
To be given in an infusion of lemon balm. 



Phthisical Drench. — (For Phthisis Pulmonalis. ) 
Powdered iodine, ten grains ; powdered hydriodate 
of potassa, twenty grains. To be given daily, in a 
decoction of comfrey, (symphitium officianalis.) 



Vermifuge Drench. — Aloes, four drachms ; oil 
of wormseed, twenty drops ; powdered male fern, 
(aspidiumfelixmas,) one ounce. To be given in 
one pint of weak soap suds an hour before feeding. 



120 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

Parturient Drench. — (Given to arouse the uteras 
in protracted labor.) — Spurred rye, (needle cornu- 
tum,) three and a half drachms. To be given in a 
decoction of bethroot, (trillium purpureum. ) 



Antacide Drench. — (To correct flatulency.) — 
Lime water, two ounces ; tincture of gentian,, half 
ounce ; tincture of ginger, half ounce. To be given 
in an infusion of horsemint, ( monar da punctata. ) 



Lithontriptic Drench. — (For urinary calculi.) 
Lime water, two ounces ; honey, four ounces ; in- 
fusion of sassafras, one pint. To be given daily for 
a fortnight or more. 



Saline Aperients. — {Either of the following is a 
dose.) — Epsom salts, twelve ounces; glauber salts, 
twelve ounces ; Kochelle salts, eight ounces ; sul- 
phur, from one to two ounces. 



Demulcents. — (Intended to lubricate and sheathe 
mucous surfaces.) — Mucilage of slippery elm, mu- 
cilage of gum acacia, (Arabic,) mucilage of gum 
tragacanth, mucilage of Iceland moss, mucilage of 
benne leaves, (sesamum indicum,) liquorice root. 
The mucilage is made by pouring boiling water on 
a certain quantity of either of the above articles, 
and stirring until the required consistence is obtained. 
This dose is ad libitum,. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 121 

Discidients. — (Medicines that are supposed to 
possess the power of repelling or resolving tumors.) 
— Ointment of iodine and hydriodate of potassa, 
made thus : — Bayberry wax, six ounces, mutton tal- 
low, six ounces ; iodine, one ounce ; hydriodate of 
potassa, one ounce. Melt the wax and tallow ; and 
when partly cool, rub the whole together in a mor- 
tar. This is an excellent preparation for enlarged 
glands, before they suppurate. The next best dis- 
cutents are, cold water, diluted acetic acid, soft soap, 
brine, and new rum. In fact, all refrigerants act as 
discutients. 



Rubefacients. -Rubefacients are substances which, 
when applied to the skin of a horse, produce in- 
creased action in the part without blistering : such 
are alcohol, tincture of capsicum, stimulating lini- 
ments of various kinds, strong vinegar, and turpen- 
tine, mixed with linseed oil. They are indicated in 
all cases of internal congestion in view of counter 
irritation : for chronic lameness, and to soften indu- 
rated and indolent tumors. 



Vesicants, or Blisters. — The principal one used 
is acetate of cantharides, made as follows : — Strong 
acetic acid, eight ounces ; water, one quart ; pow- 
dered Spanish flies, three ounces. Mix ; let it stand 
for fourteen or more days, and then filter through 
blotting paper. Used in cases of spavin, splent, 



122 THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

ringbone, and callous swellings. The usual vesicant 
is common horse blister, thus prepared : — 

Take lard, free from salt, twelve ounces ; melt it 
in an earthen vessel with two ounces of rosin, — 
taking care not to raise the temperature above that 
of a man's blood, — then add powdered Spanish flies, 
two ounces ; oil of origanum, one ounce : stir until 
cool. 

The part to be blistered should be shaved, and 
then rubbed for a few minutes with strong vinegar ; 
after wiping the part dry, spread on the blister to 
about the thickness of a dollar. If it be necessary 
to keep up the vesicatory action, let it be dressed 
daily with savin ointment. 



Antiseptics. — Antiseptics are remedies which ar- 
rest decomposition and excite the healing process in 
wounds ; among them we name pyroligneous acid, 
salt, charcoal, chloride of lime and of soda. 



Emollients. — The best emollient for softening 
and lubricating a part is poultice of slippery elm ; 
the next best is tepid water. 



Digestives. — Digestives are used for the purpose 
of hastening suppuration ; we have used a great 
many, but find nothing equal to the following : 

Bar soap, two ounces ; brown sugar, two ounces ; 
powdered bloodroot, half ounce. Mix and apply 
by means of a bandage. 



AND HORSEMAN'S COMPANION. 123 

Fomentations. — Fomentations are indicated in all 
inflammatory swellings, strains, and bruises, and are 
occasionally applied over the region of deep-seated 
inflammatory disease — located in the intestines, 
kidneys, throat, &c. The usual fomentations are 
composed of warm water, infusion of poppies, hops, 
and lobelia. They must be perseveringly applied, 
or they are of little use. 



Common Horse Liniment. — Olive oil, twelve 
ounces ; aqua ammonia, two ounces ; oil of cedar, 
one ounce. Mix. 



Syrup of Garlic. — Take of bruised garlic, four 
ounces ; acetic acid and water, of each six ounces. 
Let the garlic macerate for five days ; express the 
liquor and strain it ; then add two pounds of white 
Havana sugar ; boil over a slow fire until it is of 
the consistency of syrup. Dose, two to four ounces. 
It is an excellent antispasmodic. 



Tincture of Asafcetida. — Take gum asafcetida, 
six ounces ; pale brandy, one quart. Macerate for 
two weeks, and filter through fine linen. This is 
also an efficient antispasmodic. Dose, three to eight 
drachms, to be given in thin mucilage or gruel. 



Tincture of Capsicum. — Take of powdered red 
peppers, two ounces ; new rum, one quart. Mace- 



124' THE AMERICAN FARRIER 

rate for fourteen days, and filter through blotting 
paper. 



Tincture of Arnica. — Take of arnica flowers, 
(imported from Germany,) four ounces ; new rum, 
one pint. Macerate for fourteen days ; express the 
liquor, and filter through blotting paper. This 
remedy, in the proportion of one ounce to a pint of 
water, forms a good application for wounds, bruises, 
saddle galls, &c. The author has used it with great 
success in amaurosis and other diseases of the eye 
of a paralytic character. Given to a horse laboring 
under inflammatory affections, in the proportion of 
twenty drops, diluted with water, it acts a sedative, 
and lessens the heart's action ; in view of producing 
effect, however, the dose must be repeated at inter- 
vals of four hours. It is useful also in ophthalmia. 

Tincture of Ginger. — Take powdered Jamaica 
ginger, five ounces ; pale brandy, one quart. Mace- 
rate for fourteen days, and filter. Properties, stimu- 
lant and carminative. Dose, one to two ounces in 
gruel. 

Composition for Colic. — Powdered cinnamon, 
powdered ginger, powdered cloves, powdered char- 
coal, powdered slippery elm ; equal parts. Dose, a 
table-spoonful, to which add one quart of boiling 
water. Let it stand for a short time, then pour of 
the clear liquor ; sweeten with honey, and drench 
the subject. 



INDEX. 



125 



INDEX 



A Salve for Man and Horse, 


, 






. 25 


Adhesive Plaster, .... 






. 52 


Action of the Kidneys on the Blood, 






. 56 


Black Liniment, .... 






. 25 


Bots in Horses, 


. . 






. 27 


Broken Knees, 








. 40 


Button Farcy, . 








. 41 


Blisters, . 








55 


Blistering, 








55 


Blind Staggers, 








35 


Cribbing, 


. 






7 


Canker, or Thrush, . 








26 


Colic, 








28 


Colic, or Cholera in Mules 








65 


Curb, 


, . 






98 


Diseased Kidneys, 


. 






24 


Dumbness in Horses, 








34 


Distemper, 








48 


Diabetes, or too free Discharge of Urine, 






49 


Drops to make Old Horses Young, . 






50 


Earache, ...... 






50 


Fistula, or Pollevil, . 










16 


Fresh Wounds, 










41 


Founder, 










44 


Fomentations, . 










55 


Fever, 










62 


Falling off of the Hair, 










88 


Groggy Knees, . 










26 


Glanders, 










91 


Hoof Evil, or Thrush, 










20 


Heaves, .... 










31 



126 



INDEX. 



Inflamed Eyes, or Hooks 

Jaundice, 

Lung Fever, 

Lymphatitis, 

Mange and Surfeit, . 

Method of Administering" Medicine 

Malanders, and Salanders, 

Management of Diseased and Defective Horses, 

Medicinal Preparations used in Veterinary Practice 

Nicking, 

Nasal, or Gleet, . 

On the Gadfly, . 

Pleuresy, 

Poultices, 

Physicing, 

Prick, or Gravel in the Foot, 

Quinsy, 

Rheumatism, 

Restoration of Appetite, 

Ringworm, 

Rats Tail, 

Strength of Food for Horses, 

Stiff Shoulders, or Sweeny, 

Scours and Pinworms, 

Spavin and Ringbone, 

Stoppage of Water, . 

Springhalt, 

Splent, . 

The Pulse, 

To tell Horse's Age by his Teeth, 

To Feed, Water and Drive, 

Tender Feet, or Hoof Bound, 

Thumps in Horses, . 

To keep Horses free from Disease, 

"Vertigo, . 

White Ointment, 

Warts, 

Water Farcy, . 

Wounds, . 

Windgalls, 

Yellow Water, and Disease of the Liver, 




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